a life full of life

today as i drove to work, trying to shake off the residue of a monday morning, i saw something that gave me a thrill and seemed to work at melting my frozen bones.

blossoms.

on monument ave, where seemingly dead trees have been standing bare naked all winter, all their branches exposed for every passer-by to see, there were blooming trees with beautiful pink and white blossoms.

they are not in full bloom yet. you can tell that they are also a little apprehensive about coming out in the cold. i feel you blossoms. but they are making their way out slowly.  and i have to say that it was incredibly refreshing.

i think that this winter has been marked by both a coldness of my bones and a coldness of my heart.  i have been so driven by fear and anxiety about all of the big decisions looming overhead.  i have been icy toward those who have not deserved it (often my husband and daughter) and i have nearly ceased trusting in the God who has never once let me down, even in the dead of winter.

spring always reminds me of God's redemptive power to bring life out of seemingly dead circumstances.  (to bring life out of actual death).  there are situations that i have started to believe could never be filled with hope and life.  

my life lately has been marked by so many seemingly dead and lifeless trees. and i have been believing the very worst.

we will not find a place to live that we can both afford and will love.  dead tree 

robert will not find a job that will both provide for us and he will enjoy.  bare branches

eden will not be well taken care of next year when our current childcare ends.  no blossoms

i will not figure out how to teach and train eden while juggling a full time job.  she will end up with no self control and not trusting me at all.  no hope

but those blossoms this morning, however timid, reminded me that God can, and does, bring life and joy and new options in circumstances that seem bare and lifeless and hopeless.  i don't have to be afraid.  God keeps those trees alive, though hibernating, all winter long.  he can keep my hopes alive because my hope is ultimately in him and who he is.

he can provide.  

and he will provide.  

and my life is full of life.  even if it has not quite come to the surface where i can see it yet.  

Comments

  1. Laura, Your hopefulness today has been an encouragement to me. You reminded me that I can be filled with hope too that God sees and has an answer for My situations That seem unresolvable. Thanks for your transparency.

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  2. Oh Laura, what a painful and beautiful analogy. And what a wonderful gift to be able to see so much life in the world. Thank you for sharing your joy in seeing death brought to life and hope blossoming anew. Indeed, Spring is coming and there is much hope. He CAN and WILL because indeed He IS and always has been, and will be. Love you so much, dear friend!

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  3. oh the ache and swell of despair and hope! thank goodness for spring to remind us of hope.

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