Wanting to give her daughter a beautiful wedding in spite of a limited budget, the mother of the bride gathered blossoms from friends’ magnolia trees and the night before the wedding banked the front of the church with the luscious, creamy-white blooms.

The next morning, when she opened the sanctuary door, all the beautiful white flowers were black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, causing the flowers to wilt and die.

Dashing outside, she prayed, “Lord, please help me find someone willing to give me flowers!” Seeing a house in the distance with magnolia trees, she approached and knocked. An elderly man answered.

Responding to her plea, the man beamed, “I’d be happy to!” She said, “Sir, you’ve made the mother of a bride happy today.”

” No, Ma’am,” he said. “You don’t understand. You see, yesterday I buried my wife of 67 years. For the last 16 years, she was ill and she needed me. But this morning I sat in my house crying, ‘Who needs an eighty-six-year-old worn-out man? Nobody!’

“About that time, you knocked, and said, ‘Sir, I need you.’ When I handed you those magnolias, I decided I’m needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I decided I’m going to serve the Lord with my flowers!”

The week before Jesus was crucified, He sent His disciples to borrow a donkey on which He could ride through the city. He told them to tell the owner, “The Lord needs it” (Luke 19:31). The Lord needs you too. Regardless of your age or resources, He wants you to offer yourself to Him to bless others. He can use you today to minister to people in need.