How great the beauty of the rose
as it blooms within this sphere.
Yet its petals drop so quickly,
in it’s short-lived life down here.

Roses take so much work,
to keep them healthy every day.
We’re always pruning, tilling dusting,
to try and keep their diseases at bay.

Yet we would think it odd,
to give all our thoughts to petals
And forget its roots beneath the sod.
Or would we?

Yet her life’s not held within,
the lovely blossoms of bright red,
but lies deep within the earth,
the root’s by which she’s fed.

Our lives are but a vapor here,
like the petals of the rose.
We bloom so quickly, and are gone,
while the heart within still grows.

So when our loved one passes
from this life to their rest,
they’ve only ceased to live with us,
but still blossom at their best.

For the Master Gardener plans
his flower beds with care,
and moves His flowers from time to time,
to fit His plan up there.

For the lovely rose’s petals
are decomposing in the sod,
yet her heart, her life within her,
is transplanted home with God.

-Japheth Stauffer
God gave me these verses the day of Krystal’s funeral.