I just love the changing seasons. Spring is one of my favorites. To see everything spring back to life with such a beautiful renewal shows me that there is hope in any situation. No matter how dark the winter, how dreary the days, spring always comes with a new energy and renewal. We just have to hang in there.
As a southern gal, winter is so hard for me. In Alabama we may have one month, maybe two of winter where it gets cold for a few days at a time, but it doesn’t last long and is over so fast. January and February is cold, but March brings the spring days of warmth and sunshine. Not so in New England. Get ready for winter in September, by October you are wearing winter coats, and hibernate until April or May. It takes a lot of perseverance to endure winter. I don’t ski, I don’t do snow, and ice is another thing. Forget about it. Spring though is a beautiful thing. A sign of good days ahead. Nothing is better than the spring and summers of New England.
Imagine a southern girl with four small tornados between the ages of 1 and 9 trapped in the house all winter. I remember my son asking, “Mom, what do you do with all that snow?” My reply was something like, “You wait for it to melt”. At times it seemed like it would NEVER melt. But it always did. Finally, spring would arrive and I could set the captives free to run outside. What joy it was to be outside again. I could certainly relate to Braveheart crying Freedom!
Spring reminds me that no matter what situation we find ourselves going through, there is hope for a better tomorrow. In Psalms 30:5 we are given the promise of joy in the morning. If you are going through a rough patch, a hard time, lay hold of His promise. Joy will come in the morning. It may not seem like it, but it does.
We have been through some tough times in our 41 years of marriage. Some days have been extremely hard and dark but joy has always returned. It did not stay dark forever. All because we serve a God whose works are perfect and all His ways are just. A faithful God who is just and loves us and makes a way for us to keep going when the way is dark. (Deuteronomy 32:4).
He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright he is!Deuteronomy 32:4
As long as we faithfully serve Him and strive to do His will, spring will always return. That’s a promise you can rely on. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and before you know it, you will find yourself in the sunshine of spring. Sunny days with a lightness of spirit that is so refreshing and full of promise. As we enter into spring, try to pack as much as you can into each day and live life to the fullest.
Let’s rededicate ourselves to finding the joy that has been suppressed in the hard times and soaking it up, storing it up for those dark days. To remind us that spring does come, and joy does come in the morning.
For his anger lasts only a moment,but his favor lasts a lifetime!Weeping may last through the night,but joy comes with the morning.Psalms 30:5
