Stephen De La Vega

Call us tulips. I claim the dark one. Yeah, I know it's pink, but it's the one that's different, and I feel a little different than the rest of the team. Today I write about my privilege to be 1 of 5 writers for my church’s blog site. I imagine us as 5 tulips.      Have you seen the variegated tulips? Their petals are striped with a different color. A red tulip, for example, might be feathered with random, yellow streaks. These feathered enchantments are intentionally bred, at least the varieties we find in nurseries. But, in the wild, this artful display is really a façade. It is the etching of a viral infection that weakens the plant and diminishes its production. Variegated tulips found in the wild are called “broken” and they can never rid themselves of infection. We are 5 writers  – 5 variegated tulips:  broken, infected, and weak, but transformed to be strong and vibrant, bearing solid color through the blood of Christ and the regenerating wor...