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| (Early in the Morning) Winter visits us one last time. |
Today we are experiencing the remnants of winter trying desperately to hold on for few days longer. It seems to say, “I don’t want to go, it is so nice here and I will miss Minnesota so much!” Spring though is urging it on by gently bringing the sun into view more each day and allowing the flowers and trees to slowly nudge winter to its summer home in the northland. There winter must wait for its time to reappear once again. In the meantime summer and fall must make their appearances here as well. For everything there is a season, and for change sometimes though not wanted, must come to make room for the newness of life and the beginnings of rebirth.
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| Spring gently asks Winter to leave. |
So many times in life it is hard to experience change when it comes. Sometimes we see it from afar and we are given a chance to make alterations that will accommodate the changes that are about to arrive, but while there are these foreseen experiences in life, others come that we are not prepared for. A family member passes away from an unexpected illness, or a child is lost in an accident. For some it is the loss of a job that they have had for many years. These changes are the most challenging of all. They shock the system into numbness and paralyze one from making life’s demanding decisions that need immediate attention. One is left in total devastation and it seems that a cloud hangs over our eyes so that we cannot see to make even the simplest of decisions. One is left wondering, “why?” “Why did this happen to me and what did I do to deserve this?”
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| Abby "Look daddy, a coyote!" An early morning visitor. |
This morning Will brought up to his mommy and myself the question, “Was there quicksand in the garden of Eden? I asked him why he had thought of that. Will responded by saying that he wondered that if Adam and Eve had found quicksand, could they have walked across it, that is after they had eaten from the tree of good and evil. I told him about how after man’s fall that all of nature was affected by Adam and Eve’s decision. Things like quicksand came into being and many other bad things developed in nature as well. We talked to Will about how even nature groans for things to be as they were once intended, as related from Romans 8:22. Will responded in his innocence by saying that he would like to build a time machine and go back to the garden and convince Adam and Eve not to bite that apple. We quietly listened to him explain his theory of how that would change the future by going back to the past. When he was done with his explanation, Anne told him that it was a noble thought, but God knew what would happen long before it took place. That is, what Adam and Eve would do since he could see into the future, present and past. Anne shared with Will that God is not limited to any point in time. We then explained to Will about how God wishes for each of us to come to him by free choice and how our Lord does not force anyone to make decisions that are against our own will. We explained further that that is what love is, desiring the best for others while not wanting to change them into our image of what we think they should be. We told Will that God wants us to come to him by “our” individual decision, he invites us to be his children and we make the choice on whether to accept or decline his invitation.
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| Abby, "look daddy, a brown thing!" Female (hen) wild turkey. |
Will then told us about how he witnessed to a friend of his the other day. He shared with us that he had told his female friend all about Jesus and that he was the only true God. Anne gently held Will and spoke with him about how he could witness by his kind acts and that Will could tell his friend how Jesus helped him in his life when witnessing to her.
Anne then asked Will if he ever stopped to smell a flower? Will responded with an enthusiastic “yes, I have.” She continued by saying that the aroma of flowers are so very nice when walking by them sometimes, that it makes us want to stop and smell their fragrance. Anne then spoke to Will about the Apostle Paul in what he said in 2 Corinthians 2:13 that “we are to be a sweet fragrance to those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” She went on to say to Will that like the flowers that smell so sweet, we by our actions of love and kindness make others ask themselves the question, “what makes this person so nice?” Anne finished by saying to Will that our greatest witness sometimes is by who we are inside and not always what we say to people. Others see those changes that Jesus has made within us and are drawn to us because they want what we possess in our hearts.
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| Early Spring Sunrise |
This made me think, Christ did not ask us to change the world, he wants the change to occur within us. By allowing Jesus into our lives, we will experience the peace that passes all understanding, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Christ is our refuge in our most turbulent times, a person who listens to us and will always be there to help us and comfort us. Jesus did not take us out of the world, but wants to transform the world within us. He gives us new eyes to see life through his vision for us. He gives us hope when we have none, and he loves us with a love that goes beyond our understanding. He is our refuge in the storms of life and he wants us always to know that he is there for us.
If you have any comments that you feel would encourage others, feel free to write them down in the comments section. Have a wonderful peace filled day. Augie
