Thirteen

What a glorious day today has been! It has been sunny and warmer than it has been in a long time.  I love the beginning of March, when one season is ending and another one is ready to begin.  Saturday on the other hand, wasn't as lovely.  We had a late winter snow, worse than what was expected.  The weather people called for a dusting to an inch, with turned into inches.  Driving was treacherous to say the least.

Snow in January is depressing because we know it is going to be here for a long time.  The blanket of white everywhere is like a blanket over my heart, a blanket of heaviness, a blanket I dread.  The blanket of white seems to cover up my hope.  But, not so in March.  What I love about late winter snow, is that it doesn't last long. Within about 15 hours of the snow on Saturday, it was disappearing; the roads had cleared up.  Some of it was even melting on the driveways and lawns. 

It is like that in life too.  When we go through seasons of darkness in our lives, as we are coming through them, we may have setbacks, but those setbacks seem to be shorter and shorter.  Their impact on our hope lessens with each passing day.  As King David cried out to God, so do I.   "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."  Psalm 143:8  Tomorrow will be a better day. 

Thirteen days, just thirteen more days until we celebrate the first day of Spring.  There is more snow in the forecast for tomorrow night, but that is okay because Spring is only thirteen days away!  Hope springs anew!

The Three Letter F Word

The other morning, as I was getting up, the weather guy on the radio was telling me what I did not want to hear.  No, I am not talking about that four letter S word, you know, the white stuff that has been falling like crazy from the sky, lately.  I am talking about the three letter F word, fog.  I am not a fan of fog, but as I was on my way to work, I didn't see much of it until I got closer to the city. Then suddenly I noticed it.  It was there; it was about fifteen feet in the air, part way up the trees.  It was beautiful.

The fog I feared simply led me to see my Heavenly Father in a very special way.  It was as if He was covering me, not blinding my way, but simply there, hovering above, as far as I could see. I could feel his presence.

Lately, my life seems to have been turned upside down, or maybe I am the one upside down and I just don't know it.  Either way, I am not sure which way is up.  The other night, a dear friend reminded me that things are not always as they seem.  Just because we feel one way, does not mean that those feelings represent the reality of the situation.  What I have been reminded of is the need to trust God to show me the way.  It is not always an easy thing to do, but I know He is with me.  He is hovering over me, whether I can feel His presence or not. 

Psalm 143:7-9 says, "Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.

The fog the other morning was like a blanket of love covering me.  I am not alone.  I know my Heavenly Father is always with me. I am loved.  Perhaps I am right side up after all.

Seasons of Life

Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  In some places on our earth there isn't much of a change in those seasons, but where I live, each one has its definite time.  My favourite season is spring.  I love when everything becomes green again and the flowers bloom once more.  However, in order to truly appreciate the newness of spring, we need to experience the deadness of winter.  So it is with life.  We, as human beings, cannot continually experience the mountain top experiences of Joy without experiencing the Death Valley experiences,as well. 

This new beginning that God has blessed me with this past year, brought with it an unexpected season of sadness in the past month or so.  Christmas in our home has had a number of traditions that my daughter and I have built over the years; traditions that did not take place this year .  The sadness this brought was compounded by too much time off work to dwell on what didn't happen over the holidays.  I have not felt this depth of sadness in a very long time. 

Today, however, I can tell you that the sadness is gone.  I was so "me" focused that I forgot it isn't about me.  Life does not exist just for my happiness.  We are all here to work together; to help each other through the difficulties of life; to hold each other up when our friends cannot make it on their own; to reflect God's love to the world.

Second Corinthians 1:3-4 says, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."

Today I am smiling again.  Tomorrow I will be able to empathize with the person who is sad because of life's changes. Tomorrow I will be able to listen and to encourage.  To me, that is worth the sadness of yesterday.

But I do have some great news.... only 70 days from today, and spring will officially arrive.  When that day arrives, I will really be smiling!

Canadian Geese

The other day as I was driving home from work, I noticed a line of Canadian Geese attempting to fly north.  I say they were attempting to fly north because they were up high in the sky, but they didn't appear to be going anywhere, they were pretty much flying without moving.  It was weird for a couple of reasons.  First of all, they weren't going anywhere.  Second of all, it has been unseasonably cold lately and they were heading north.  Why would they be heading north?  Thankfully I was in the middle of nowhere when I noticed the geese, so I could keep an eye on them, more than on the road.  They intrigued me.  After a few minutes, I turned the corner and looked for the geese once again, only to notice they had changed direction and were heading south.  Once they changed directions, their pace picked up and they were off.  A few minutes later they were out of view.

The geese remind me of me.  When I walk in the wrong direction for my life, I spin my wheels; I don't get anywhere.  It isn't until I turn around and go in the direction I know I need to go that I actually accomplish anything.  I know God has a plan for my life, a good plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God's plan is one I choose to follow, most of the time.  He has promises for me when I do.

"You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.  You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him.  That's right - you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set."  Psalm 119:1-3 (The Message)

So the next time I am tempted to walk outside of God's plan for my life, I just need to remember the Canadian geese who were flying north; getting nowhere, fast!  Hopefully I will remember this lesson and make sure I stay on track.

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

Out of Nowhere

It is cold this week.  I miss the warmer weather we had just last week, even though it brought the fog with it.  For about 3 or 4 mornings in a row, I had to deal with fog on the way in to work. 

One night last week, I was on my way home, late.  The sky was beautiful with all the stars sparkling so brilliantly.  It was an easy drive, one I could have done without thinking. I have done it many times.  Suddenly out of nowhere I hit it, a fog so thick I had to slow right down.  I had to focus intently on my driving for about 30 seconds, and then it was gone, as quickly as it appeared.  The stars still shone brightly overhead.  That fog re-focused me so that I paid attention to my driving the rest of the way home.

How many times do we go through life, doing life without even thinking about what we are doing?  We are so accustomed to our everyday routine that we don't even pay attention to our own actions.  I remember when I was in high school, having to cross a very busy street in Toronto to get to school.  Many days I would cross half way, stand on the centre line and wait for the cars going in the other direction to clear so I could go the rest of the way across the street.  One day in particular, I got to school and had absolutely no recollection of crossing the street.  I am not going to lie, that scared me.

I see two problems with living our lives on auto-pilot.  The first problem is that we can walk all over the people in our path without even realizing it.  How easy is it to take people for granted.  If we are in a bad mood, we can speak thoughtlessly, or react insensitively to them.  Either way, we all lose.  The second problem is that we can miss all the little miracles God plants in our path.  A beautiful sunset, a deer on the side of the road, a flower, a laughing child or the smile of a friend, can all be overlooked because we are not paying attention to the details of life.

When was the last time you actually paid attention to the path God has placed in front of you?  When was the last time you took the time to appreciate the people and the little miracles of life that God has brought to you?  My challenge for today is to walk with open eyes, not just the eyes on your face, but the eyes of your heart. Find the little things on your path that will lead you to celebrate life; then celebrate!

Be blessed, my friends, be blessed!

Let It Rain

Yesterday I was out for a walk, and the wind was blowing.  As I looked up, one of the trees nearby was losing quite a few leaves.  It seemed like it was raining leaves.  As I continued walking, I noticed that most of the trees had either already lost their leaves, or they were holding on for dear life.  That one tree was the only tree I saw, that was losing so many leaves at once.  

It made me think.  In my last blog posting, I talked about timing and how it just wasn't the right time for the trees to lose their leaves.  Well, yesterday, for that one tree, it was time, and it was beautiful.  The beauty did not come in the losing of the leaves, but in the fulfillment of its destiny.

We all have a destiny.  God has plans for each of our lives.  As one of His children, He has amazing plans for my life. 

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I love that He has amazing plans for my life.  I love that He fills my life with hope, but I also love that He has things He wants me to do in His name.  That is my destiny.

Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

God has birthed in me a new passion and little by little He is preparing me for what He has for me to do.  In the mean time, I look up, I look around and I see the miracles He places in my path each and every day.  He reminds me that He is there and that He loves me. 

Yesterday, that one tree's destiny was fulfilled, and the leaves rained down at just the right time. 

God, when the timing is perfect in my life for me to fulfill my destiny, please, let it rain.

Leaves in the Wind

It was nice to escape the house this evening.  I have been stuck here for a couple of days since the vertigo hit.  I have been able to hear the wind blowing like crazy outside, but it was great to feel it against my face.  I love walking and it was wonderful to actually be able to go out for a bit. 

Something surprised me as I was outside.  It is almost November and with all the wind we have had the last two days I expected most of the trees to have lost all their leaves by now, but that is not what I found.  I would say that at least two-thirds of all the trees had the majority of their leaves still in tact.  I guess it just isn't their time yet. 

Timing - why is it that our timing and God's timing never seem to be quite the same.  Right now I am waiting for God's timing in my life.  He has shown me the path He wants me to take. He has filled my heart with a passion but yet He says wait. 

Why is it that we as human beings don't like to wait?  I have to laugh each time I hear someone say, "God give me patience, and give it to me now!" Not quite how learning patience works.  When we demand that things go our way, when we manipulate the situation to get what we want, we miss out on God's best for our lives.

Just this morning, as I read my Bible, I read the following verses. Proverbs 3:5-6 say, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take."  These verses are a good reminder that I need to follow His will for my life, but it isn't just about God's will for my life, it is about God's will in God's timing, and He is never too late.

So as I wait for Him to reveal how He wants to work in my life, I hold on to verses that give me hope, verses that challenge me to wait.  Some might find me a fool, but to me, not waiting is the foolish thing to do. 

Psalm 27:13-14 say, "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."

My friends, as you wait, be blessed.