Springtime

In honor of April, I wrote a rhyme I call, Springtime.

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The sun is shining,

I’m happy and blessed.

Except for the pollen,

My nose is a mess.

My eyes are itching,

I can barely breathe.

Oh yeah, it’s springtime,

May I borrow your sleeve?

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I don’t wipe my nose on sleeves. Gross. Just needed a word to rhyme. Tissue wouldn’t work!

The Bible mentions springtime too. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land (Song of Songs 2:11-12, NIV).

What do you enjoy most about spring?

Planting seeds? New life? Growth? Flowers? Warm days? Birds singing? Peaceful evenings?

Spring is my favorite season. Forty-five years ago, during spring, I realized my need for the Lord. My life felt empty and useless; I longed for hope, joy, and peace. I needed rescued.

The Lord planted a seed in my heart the day I picked up a Bible in a hotel room I shared with a friend. She’d gone off with her boyfriend. I stayed behind and enjoyed a pity party. I don’t remember what I prayed that day, but I recall reading Psalm 23. The only scripture I remembered from my church days a few years earlier.

Two months later, I visited a small church near my home. New life entered my weary soul. Jesus became real. A relationship began and continues. Loneliness and emptiness disappeared. Love, joy, and hope took their place.

As I grew in my knowledge of the Lord, His Word chipped away at my rough edges. The ones I turned over to Him. I held on to some. Those needed more time. He’s still at work.

When we allow God to do in us what only He can do, we become like a beautiful, flowering garden full of warmth. He puts a joyful song in our hearts, holds us in His loving arms, and covers us with His peace.

When springtime arrives, my thoughts turn to the Lord and how He gave me new life in Him.

Please share what you enjoy most about spring!

Insults Bring Blessings

If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:14 NLT

Have you been insulted because you follow Christ? I’d only been a believer for two weeks when criticism met me for the first time. Someone invited me to a bridal shower for a friend. With my gift in hand, I walked to her front door on a warm July day. The door stood open, and I heard my friend’s voice. “She must be bad if she needs to go to church two or three times a week.” Out of my old friend group, I knew their discussion focused on me. Hard to walk up those remaining steps and through the front door.

She didn’t understand. As a child of God, I was no longer bad. The blood of Christ covered me, and I had become a new creation. Clean in the eyes of my Lord.

As a baby Christian, I didn’t have a comeback. No idea of what to say. Every eye stared at me when I entered the house. I felt uneasy. I made them uncomfortable too. Not surprising when I read the above verse. They were uncomfortable because the glorious Spirit of God rested upon me as a new child of God.

Afterward, I realized I needed a new friend group. Friends who supported me in my walk with Christ. Had I stayed with the old group, they may have tried to pull me back into my old ways. Why go backwards? I’d found a new beginning. A better way to live. 

My church provided me with a warm and welcoming group of young people and adults who loved me, taught me, and wanted the best for me in my new life. Their support and encouragement gave me the stability and strength I needed and a rich foundation in Christ. That same group is where I met my husband, Kenn.

God has blessed me in so many ways throughout the years. His glorious Spirt resting upon me is one of those blessings.