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​As a cancer survivor, I understand how difficult fighting this disease can be, both physically and mentally. For a patient going through radiation and/or chemotherapy treatments, it can be such a trying time facing the next treatment… and then the next. Something as simple as receiving a long-stemmed rose on one of those treatment days can amazingly brighten a moment, if not the whole day.

This program delivers roses one day each month to the Phillips Cancer Center of Martha Jefferson Hospital. Throughout the day, staff members in the Radiation / Oncology Department give a rose to each patient undergoing treatment. This small act becomes a blessing to those receiving the flowers as well as the ones handing them out and seeing the surprise and joy in their patient’s eyes. Love is shared, along with joyful smiles and occasional tears. All day long, from the first patient that receives a rose to the last, the Lord’s blessings flow from one to another.

Before the roses are delivered, we say a prayer over them, asking God’s blessings to flow to all who touch each flower. On the morning of our first delivery, I awoke with a poem in my heart, which led to the creation of a Floral Blessings bookmark that is given along with each rose. The poem reads:

A Floral Blessing
Today I prayed for a blessing 
on this beautiful flower
That it may remind you
of God's grace
and His wonderful power
To feel His love and presence
every minute, 
every hour
As you fight this battle
you are not alone
May you feel each blessing
God bestows
and remember the beauty
of His Grace and Love
as reflected
​ in this beautiful rose