Saturday, April 2, 2016

Spring. Here, and is coming...

Western Michigan has one of the most beautiful summers I've ever experienced; but oh how winter dawdles?! And spring seems to hide beneath a blanket of gray fog and extra layers of clothing.

Lately, when I wake, I make our bed, open up the bedroom and living room curtains and light a small candle as I pray over our days. I need light...even if that light comes from a small candle on the mantle.

I open up the blinds in the kitchen; the bright yellow kitchen with a new blue-gray tile floor recently gifted to us from our landlords. The walls and floors catch whatever light that trickles in and magnifies it.

And then there are the flowers. Oh how good He is to give us these small treasures?! Though spring hides, we've still been able to enjoy little bouquets I've arranged using flowers I've picked up at our favorite discount grocery. It may be as gray as slate outside, but seeing these little lights within our home is God whispering to my spring-starved heart, "Hold on, little one, spring is coming, spring IS near!"
 
I told myself a while back that I would get back to writing come Spring.

With Holy Week and Easter Sunday having come and gone, we are left with the knowledge that Our Savior is Risen! He is alive! Hallelujah! He too, has come and gone, and is coming again. However, His Kingdom, much like spring, seems to be hindered...

Where are you Lord, when Your people are being bombed on Easter morning? Where are you Lord, when women and children hide in swamps with pythons and crocodiles because the chance of death by these creatures is considered the better choice when compared to certain death at the hands of their countrymen? I struggle to wrap my mind around it all. Parents in the midst of loosing children? Going to bed hungry...again. Praying daily your son isn't shot on his way home from school by drug dealers, thugs, or the police. Yes, where are you, Lord?

And then I hear Him whisper again, "Hold on, little one, spring is coming, spring IS near!"

There are so many situations from my backyard to around the globe that I long to see Christ come and change. Make whole. Make right. Make new. And I believe He will...one day. Because He said He would.

But He is also doing these things right now. The changes may seem small or quiet or get very little news coverage. They are being carried out by His people living in His Kingdom Come that is both here and now and is still yet to come. These Kingdom people are boldly sacrificial. They are often not the loudest, the prettiest, the smartest or any other -est. But they are His people. They do not loose heart in the midst of the storm. They steady their gaze and weather it. Their hope is sure. Christ, the light of the world, is here with us, has gone to prepare a place for us, and is coming again!

It may not yet feel like Spring here on the Lakeshore of West Michigan, but according to the calendar, it is indeed, Spring!

Tulips liter the rooms of our cozy little Cape Cod home. Bursts of pink and yellow lift my spirit here on the inside as I remember the warmth of sunshine on my face and the refreshment of gentle lake breezes on my neck. Outside, snow is falling. Yes, spring is here, and is coming.



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