Whatever the Season

 Excerpted from a column written in 2012 and published in the Chapel Hill News and Views magazine.

After the chilly, dreary days of winter, we long for spring, for signs of new life, for splashes of color, for warmer temperatures so that we can end our hibernation and get out and about once again.

We long for the time when we can say, “… the winter is past, and the rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up, and the time of singing birds has come … The fig trees are budding, and the grapevines are in blossom. How delicious they smell! Yes, spring is here!” (Song of Songs, 2:11-13a.)

But sometimes we feel stuck in one season — in life, as well as in nature — don’t we? For example, children often feel they’ll be children forever! They long to grow up and do the things big people do. Likewise, people who are battling an illness may see no end to that season.

Whenever we’re feeling stuck, it’s good to remind ourselves of this truth: “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest … A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance … ” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4).

Although we like some seasons better than others, we benefit from experiencing a variety of seasons and cycles, else the Creator wouldn’t have designed them. In fact, we need the harshness and bleakness of winter in order to appreciate the warmth and beauty of spring. As 17^th century poet Anne Bradstreet pointed out, “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

So … whatever time, whatever season, we find ourselves in, especially if we’re feeling stuck in it, let’s follow David’s example and humbly say to God, “My times are in thy hand …” (Psalm 31:15, KJV).

 Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quoted is from the New Living Translation.

A Kind Word

First Blooms

Spring!

Spring shows what God can do 
with a drab and dirty world.

~Rev. Virgil A. Kraft (1910-1988)

Spring Is Sure to Follow

There's an old proverb that says, "No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." That's so true, isn't it? However, when we're in the cold clutches of winter, we tend to think spring will never come. Likewise, we often think that we're stuck forever in a harsh season of life. But, rest assured, a gentler, more beautiful, more hopeful season will surely follow since God designed the seasons--and our lives--to stay on schedule. 

While reflecting on the cyclical seasons of life, I like to recall the words to Great Is Thy Faithfulness, a favorite hymn of mine, written by Thomas O. Chisholm in the early 1900s.

The chorus of the song praises God for His great faithfulness toward us and mentions that daily we see how gracious God is to us and how He so faithfully provides all we need. 

The verses mention specific ways God demonstrates His faithfulness. For example, even the seasons and the solar system attest to His great faithfulness. 

God didn't just create the world and all the living creatures that inhabit it and then walk away. No! He faithfully keeps everything (even our lives!) "on schedule"--day after day, year after year.

Thus, we learn that we can trust Him to faithfully care for us and to make sure that "No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." Trust Him. Thank Him. Praise Him.

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! 

His mercies never cease. 

Great is his faithfulness; 

his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Lamentations 3:22, 23, New Living Translation

To sing along with the song, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cACqcURyvJA 

Differences

Withered hydrangea blooms;
new hydrangea leaves and daffodils sprouting in the Spring.

When man sees but withered leaves, 

God sees sweet flowers growing.

~Albert Laughton

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” saith the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

~Isaiah 55:8, 9, KJV

Sprouts

Happy Spring!

Add caption

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

~Isaiah 61:11, ESV

Live Happy!

One exceptionally warm day in February, I ventured into our yard to take photographs. I paused to take a picture of the little garden flag I'd bought and displayed after I'd removed the Christmas flag in late December. 

Although it's more appropriate for the Spring and Summer seasons, I displayed it anyway because I need to be reminded often to "Live Happy," since I, like you, Dear Reader, have burdens and struggles that could easily bring on depression. But I choose to be happy wherever I am and whatever the situation--and, for the most part, I truly am.

But that Spring-like day made it even easier to put work aside, for a few hours, and enjoy the blessing of the special day God had given me.

I felt happy and carefree as I made photographs of the daffodils and blooms on a Japanese Magnolia tree in a friend's yard. The happiness remained as I uploaded the photos and edited them. 

I'm continuing to be thankful for the gift of a beautiful day, for the signs of approaching Spring, for beauty amid the drabness of Winter, for a few hours of respite from responsibilities, for the physical ability to walk around outside again (even though I'm still dependent on a cane)....

As I reflected on all the above, this verse came to mind: 

A merry heart does good like a medicine...

Proverbs 17:22

YES!

In His Time

Several years ago, a friend who lives in Nevada said, “We have five inches of snow on the ground—and more on the way."

“Well, then," I said, "I won’t e-mail you the spring photos I’d planned to send you. I wouldn’t want you to think I was saying, ‘Ha! Ha! We have spring and you don’t!’”

   “Oh, I wouldn’t think that!” she replied. “Go ahead and send the photos. They’ll encourage me!”

   As I scrolled through dozens of digital photos I’d uploaded to my computer, I had a hard time deciding which ones to send. I finally settled on five.

   When I checked my e-mail the following morning, her reply was waiting for me. “The pictures are just gorgeous. Thanks for sending them.  Makes spring feel a little closer for me.”

I knew she was as eager for spring as I was! Early in February I began going outside frequently to check for signs of spring. Once they began appearing, I was so excited. I took pictures, pictures, and more pictures of the daffodils, of the delicate blooms on the flowering almond tree, and of anything and everything that had color!

I don’t know if I could stand to wait until late March or April or perhaps early June for spring to arrive, as folks in colder climates have to do. I’m sure I, like everyone else, would be asking, “Will it ever be spring?”

After the chilly, dreary days of winter, we long for spring, for signs of new life, for splashes of color, for warmer temperatures ...so that we can end our hibernation and get out and about once again.

We long for the time when we can say, “…the winter is past, and the rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up, and the time of singing birds has come…The fig trees are budding, and the grapevines are in blossom. How delicious they smell! Yes, spring is here!” (Song of Songs, 2:11-13a.)

But sometimes we feel stuck in one season—in life, as well as in nature—don’t we? For example, children often feel they’ll be children forever! They long to grow up and do the things big people do. Likewise, people who are battling an illness may see no end to that season.

Whenever we’re feeling stuck in a season, it’s good to remind ourselves of this truth: “There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest…A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance… ” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4).

Although we enjoy some seasons more than others, we benefit from experiencing a variety of seasons and cycles, else the Creator wouldn’t have designed them. In fact, we need the harshness and bleakness of winter in order to appreciate the warmth and beauty of spring. As 17^th century poet Anne Bradstreet pointed out, “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

So…whatever time, whatever season, we find ourselves in, especially if we’re feeling stuck in it, let’s follow David’s example and humbly say to God, “My times are in thy hand…” (Psalm 31:15, KJV). And then wait patiently for Him to provide the next season--in His time.

© 2012 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill, www.jgaskill.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quoted is from the New Living Translation.

Watch for Spring!

Note: Although I wrote this article in 2003, I still search for signs of Spring, as I'm doing this year (2014, when I took the photos included in this post) and the same truths expressed here still apply.

I love being outside in this Spring-like weather. The sun is warm; the wind is gentle. The daffodils are swaying gracefully, their movements choreographed by invisible currents. The crabapple tree is in full bloom, looking (from a distance) like it’s adorned with cotton balls. The skinny branches on the almond tree, which just a few weeks ago looked like small sticks, are hardly visible now that their buds have opened, revealing the beauty within each tiny one.

As I stroll along, the sight and smell of freshly-cut grass make me smile. Even the dog trots happily alongside me, looking as if she’s smiling, too. We stop frequently so that I can photograph the surprises I’m finding everywhere--for example, the buds on the Japanese Magnolia (aka "Tulip Tree").

As I walk along enjoying the warmth, I think about the bitter cold we’ve experienced this winter. Some days were just “too raw” to venture out at all. Freezing temperatures. Bone-chilling, wet winds. Clouds so dark and heavy that mid-day seemed like late afternoon.

 But now that the weather is nice, I look longingly out the windows every day, waiting eagerly for my time outside. A writer friend adds to that longing when she says, “Go outside to write! Don’t you dare stay inside on a day like today.”

Perhaps my delight in this beautiful season helps me recognize the truth in these words of David L. Weatherford. “We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sorrow.”

Thankfully, there is a cycle to ALL of life, not in the seasons alone. When we’re experiencing a “long, dark night of the soul,” we know that light will come into our lives again. And when it does, oh, how we welcome it. When we’re feeling fearful, we know that calm will come.  And when it does, oh, how we welcome it.

          While thinking about such cycles, I reflect on these words of Abraham Lincoln. “In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all, and it often comes with bitter agony. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You cannot now believe that you will ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. Knowing this, truly believing it, will make you less miserable now. I have had enough experience to make this statement.”

          It comforts me to know that great persons, including Biblical writers, experienced cycles in their faith, just as you and I do. For example, one of the psalmists wrote, “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel…” (Psalm 73:21-24a, New International Version).

          No matter what cycle we’re in, God loves us and is with us! And even though we may feel we’ve been in the harsh grip of Winter for a long time, we can know that it won’t last forever. We will experience a Springtime! Wait for it! Watch for it!

Bud on our Crabapple tree.

© 2003 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill.

Spring Will Come!

If I were to describe today, I could echo what Charles Dickens said years ago: “It [is] one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when the summer is in the light, and winter in the shade.”

The sun is shinning warmly enough (63 degrees, according to the thermometer), yet the brisk wind is bone-chilling. If I stand in a sheltered area, I don’t need a jacket; but if I walk out in an open space (such as my driveway), I need a coat, scarf, and gloves.

But soon it will be spring, for sure. The daffodils are finally blooming, albeit later this year than usual, and are dancing in the breeze. The ready-to-burst-open buds on the forsythia and other shrubs and trees will soon show off their colors.

Since spring has been delayed a bit this year, folks are saying this will be one of the most beautiful springs we’ve had in a long while. Rather than spring coming “here a little, there a little,” it will arrive all at once. Won’t that be delightful?

This winter has seemed to drag on and on, hasn’t it? Even folks here in the south have grown tired of it and are longing for spring. We are so ready to go outside and dig in the dirt. We long for sunshine’s warmth on our backs as we play and work outside. We’re eager to feel warm breezes blowing through our hair as we walk through neighborhoods ablaze with color.

Perhaps we love spring so much because, as Virgil A. Kraft said, “Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.”

In addition to beauty and comfort, spring brings hope—hope that God can and will make something beautiful of our lives and of the lives of others, hope that He will make something beautiful out of the ugliness that’s all too often seen and experienced in our world, hope that He will….

We know that no winter, no matter how long it lasts or how bitter it is, will last forever. Spring will follow, even if winter delays its arrival for a longer than usual time. Knowing that spring will come, one of these days, renews our hope that God will make all things beautiful in His time.

Consider, for example, the prophet, Jeremiah. He experienced a terrible winter of the soul, brought on by severe afflictions and frustrations that seemed to never end. After mentioning many of the things that caused his pain, he said, "The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’” (Lamentations 3:19-24).

Having said that, Jeremiah then added, “The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. So, it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD” (v. 25-26).

Waiting during a long winter is so hard. But that waiting is made easier when we have hope that God will change things for the better, which He surely will. The coming of spring reminds us once again of that great truth.

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill. Scriptures quoted are from the New Living Translation.