Waiting...and more Waiting...

After the longest winter of my life, I think I can truthfully say that Spring has finally arrived.

But she certainly took her time.

We had snow a week ago, and a killing frost after that. I know it was a killing frost because I lost 12 tomatoes and 8 green peppers -- inside the greenhouse!

However, that is all in the past. Today we had lovely sunshine and miracle of miracles: no wind! I hummed a happy tune, while I planted pots for the verandah. And I almost cried when I saw

♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪

two Finches in a Pear Tree…
♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫♫♪♫♪♪♫♪♫

And the pear tree has begun to flower.

Oh happy day!

Are you longing for something?

Waiting can be a real challenge.

It seems that almost everyone I know is waiting for something….

Psalm 130:5 says,

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

During my times of waiting, I’ve found strength in knowing that my Heavenly Father has my days all planned for me…

I can wait patiently, knowing that his timing is best.

If you are currently waiting, search scriptures for direction.

And know that as you wait,

your Father knows what lies ahead

and is preparing you for it,

right now.

Longing for Spring

Several years ago, one of my students introduced me to the song

“You Must Believe in Spring.”
Because this winter seems longer than any other I’ve known,

I’m holding on to this thought.


Just as a tree is sure
Its leaves will reappear;
It knows its emptiness
Is just the time of year

The frozen mountain dreams

Of April's melting streams,

How crystal clear it seems,

You must believe in Spring!

What crazy weather we are having…

a thaw…

then a cold snap…

another thaw…

and water, water everywhere!

The greenhouse awaits tomatoes,

the fence awaits sweet peas,

and the pine just wants the frost to be gone.

I pour over the seed catalogues

and long for spring,

new life,

new beginnings,

and an end to the cold.

How wonderful to know that God created an ordered universe.

Daniel 2:21a reads, “He changes times and seasons.”

And when spring does arrive,

and I enjoy the new growth once again,

remind me, Father, that You provide

this wonderful season through Your creation of order.

Chapters

I don’t know how I could be more than halfway through a book before realizing that it doesn’t have chapters. But I was, and it doesn’t. It happened this morning – I kept promising myself that I would ‘get some work done’ when I got to the end of the chapter. However, as much as I was enjoying it, the chapter just never seemed to end. So I flipped the pages to see how much longer I could delay ‘getting some work done’ -- and I flipped all the way to the end of the book. Now a normal person would have figured it out at this point, but I had to check, so I started at the beginning of the book and sure enough – no chapters.

Maybe this is one of the reasons I’ve been taking my time on this book. I like chapters -- beginnings and endings. Those elements help me make sense of life. But before you think I am a hopelessly linear thinker, you should also know that I have at least two books on the go at any given time – and sometimes up to 5. I really need to finish the chapterless book so that I can pass it on to a friend. I know she’ll enjoy it – chapterless and all.

Where am I going with this? It’s about chapters in our lives. I’m so glad our days are organized that way. For my liking, some of those chapters could have been eliminated altogether – or if they had to be in the ‘book’ – couldn’t God have made them really short? Of course there have been other chapters where I wanted to put down some deep roots and stay awhile.

Last night I was reading words written by Dr. James Dobson. He tells about the last time he prayed with his father. His dad said, “Lord we know it can’t always be the wonderful way it is now, but we thank you for the love we enjoy today.” Just a month after praying this prayer, his dad had a heart attack and later died. And a chapter closed.

All chapters have beginnings and endings. Even when I'm enjoying an especially wonderful chapter, I know at some point, it will come to a close. But I can enjoy the time I’m there – and know that when it ends, another begins. And so on for the rest of our lives...

One of my favourite passages of scripture is:

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven…

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Thank you, Father, for the chapters of our lives.
For order and reason and purpose.
As this year comes to an end, and another begins,

help us know Your love in all the chapters and
hold fast to You in those times that don’t seem to make sense.
You are the author and perfector of our faith,
a loving Father who wants what's best for us.
Help us to trust our days to You.