Ask me my favorite season, my answer will always be autumn. The crisp air allows me to be outside without needing to be fully covered head to toe in order to stay warm and cozy or not nearly as covered head to toe so that I may stay cool and comfortable. The amazing aromas of pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and apples, or the crock-pot meal cooked to perfection. Listening to the crunch and crackle as I walk through leaves that have softly fallen to the ground, or hearing the laughter at a pumpkin farm. Then there is being surrounded by the vibrant hues of golden yellow, simmering orange, and soothing red, making their presence known among the hints of the gently fading summertime blue and green, and all of it is securely held by the sturdiness and strength of brown.
The promise of Spring…but first a little more about autumn and a bit about winter.
Autumn teaches me over and over again about letting go, about trusting; the season that reminds me how to prepare for the still and quiet, enjoy the slower days and embrace a calmer existence. Autumn feels like a cozy, warm moment next to the Lord, listening and learning, praying and preparing. Autumn prepares me for winter so that I can see the beauty within the shorter, colder, grayer days, or choose to see the beauty of each snowflake and learn how to find joy in the most frigid of temperatures. By late winter, l find myself struggling more and more each day, wondering how much longer the cold and dreary will last and finding it difficult to see the sparkle of the snow. Even as Autumn’s lessons and preparedness are greatly waning, and as my mind battles the negative attacks, a noticeable sense of newness is on the horizon. As difficult as January and February are for me, I always know that March and April are soon to follow.
Through the difficulties of a winter season that displays bare and empty moments, when hurt and pain are deeply felt, shadows and darkness seemingly cover everything, and brokenness and heartache appear neverending, within it all is where we will always find the deeply rooted and life-giving promise of spring. This season of newness reminds us that through all of life’s struggles and trials, the loss and grief we experience, and all the ups and downs, hope lives. Hope is a constant, always there for us to cling to, to believe in, and to trust. Every year, just after winter, the promise of spring rises up and shows us whatever difficult times we walk through, hope will always be present. The beauty of spring sweetly teaches us about the existence of hope all year long.
Good Friday happened…
the bare
the hurt
the pain
the shadows
the darkness
the brokenness
the heartache…
and among all the suffering exists life-giving Hope.
The promise of spring.
“He is RISEN, just as He said.” Matthew 28:6 NIV
Easter Blessings,
~jeh