She was 23 years old and living alone in a foreign country, separated from her loved ones by an ocean and 2 continents.

She had no family to come home to, and knew no one she could call a friend.

Just five days before her birthday, her boyfriend broke up with her via long distance phone call. And he had called collect.

It was the loneliest week of her life.

But she was a Christian.

Back home, she had personally known the God who loved her – known Him so well, in fact, that she used to tell others excitedly about Him.

Now she sat alone in her apartment, and she didn’t know what to do.

Until she heard it, a voice coming from somewhere in her heart. A familiar voice, and it was saying, “Take a walk with Me.”

So she got up, went out of her building, and took a walk.

And she knew that He was there beside her.

“Why don’t I feel excited, Lord?” She asked Him, as the minutes passed and turned into an hour. “I’m having a date with the King of Kings. Why do I still feel empty?”

He didn’t answer, but quietly continued walking with her.

They walked the whole morning, and the whole afternoon.

As she took each step and looked around her, she soon began to notice the vibrancy of life, the beauty of His creation.

Slowly His presence became so real to her, it was almost like He was holding her hand.

By late afternoon a great peace had settled over her — the kind of peace she had almost forgotten, because she hadn’t felt it in a long time.

“Thank you, Lord,” she said, smiling now.

Now they were almost in front of her building. Their date was coming to an end.

“Look down, Shai.” His voice told her.

So she looked down… and beneath the tree in front of her building, there lay a small bouquet of bright blue flowers.

“For you, My beloved…”

She picked up the flowers, and her eyes blurred with tears. She looked around her, but no one else was there, no one was going to claim the bouquet and take it away from her.

“They’re for you,” His voice assured her. “I want you to know that you don’t need a human boyfriend so you could feel loved, or even receive flowers. I am God, and I could give you all the love and all the flowers you need.”

She cried at that moment, because she had really needed those flowers. And she cried because He had loved her enough to give them to her, although He was her God.

“Thank you for going out with Me.” His voice said.

And He walked her to her apartment, where she finally spent a tearless sleep.

Almost a year later Shai returned home, and told me her story.

And it was like God had given me flowers, too.

(“Flowers For Shai,” by Aileen T. Suquila) http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/christian_writing/30029