Vernal Musings

Well Spring is finally here! What a long, cold , winter it has been, on so many levels.
Time to give the house a fresh spruce up.Put spring linen on the beds- air the house out.
The birds are chirping more it seems, the blossoms are out on the trees and the days are getting warmer and longer.
We are in a season of transition between winter and summer.
In our lives a winter season, can be bare , stark and desolate.The leaves have all gone from the tree and the cruel ,winter winds whistle through the empty branches.A stark lonely figure on a winter landscape.Winter seasons are where our roots go down deep and hang on for dear life. On the surface not much is happening.In fact it looks like we are dying.
One thing I have learned in more than 50 winters- Spring will always come.We may feel as though our emotions are buried under three feet of snow but that is the time to hang on to what we know. That is the fact that God is faithful and He will see you through.The Sun will come out again and thaw the snow and ice and allow the spring bulbs to shoot through and bloom again.
We need to embrace the different seasons in our lives and learn to discern them properly.This life is a gift and we have no guarantees beyond the fact that He says He will never leave us or forsake us.He will hold our hand through all of life's seasons.There is beauty in each season.Embrace the season you are in.Hold your loved ones close today and rejoice in the sheer joy of living.

Cyclones, bicycles and life lessons.

I remember battening down the hatches in Townsville in March of 1988. I had only been in  town for two months.There had been  a long drought of many years.The next thing you know we are hearing these ear piercing cyclone siren warnings on TV and radio introducing Cyclone Charlie.

Community announcements advised about making the outside yard area safe and taping up windows and after all was done we had to wait for the inevitable.

Now, as Southerners, and having no frame of reference, we looked outside and saw how sunny and calm the weather was and got onto our bicycles and rode up to the shop to get some milk- as you do. The shop assistant was very curt with us and questioned our intelligence quotients.We were doing tertiary study after all, how dare they? Well, actually, it turned out that in our naivete we had cycled out into the eye of the cyclone and had put ourselves into a dangerous position.We made it home that day, chastened and educated forever about the nature of cyclones.

With the storms of life, as with cyclones, they often have a sudden onset, although if you look carefully enough you can read the signs of them brewing for a time beforehand.

We need to prepare for the full force of the storm and its aftermath. We need to keep ourselves in the love of God, keeping our hearts right and maintaining short accounts with family, friends and associates.Having done all to stand, now is the time for standing.

Beware, when it seems as though the pressure has lifted and everything is sunny again.The storm is not over yet.This is the middle of the storm.It is not the time for making foolhardy decisions.It is a time for gathering family, and prayer and waiting in peace.This is the time to dig into God and allow His peace to keep you from the fear of the unknown.This is the time to trust Him and His character.This is a leadership moment, when you can model to your your children what to do to weather the storms of life.

In the aftermath of the storm, this is the time of assessing the damage and staying calm and in faith leading the way to rebuild that which the storm damaged.

Storms are inevitable but if we allow Jesus into our boat, He can keep us in peace and show us the way to weather it with dignity and strength.

No matter what we face in life, God will make a way where there seems to be no way. In all things, He works together for good.He is a good God and we can trust Him.