Will Spring Ever Come?

My farmer and the crew work outside everyday. 

Sure they can head into the milk house to get warm. 

Sometimes they work in a tractor that has a cab.

Not sure if there is heat in there anymore. 

But mainly they are out doors. 

So, I hesitate as I choose my words; 

Will Spring ever come? 

The days are getting longer. 

Light in the early evenings. 

Yet, the cold lingers. 

I am not one to be cold. 

My internal system has always run on the warm side. 

But this year. . .

This year, I can not get warm. 

And it makes me dread the day. 

I can hear myself complaining. 

How easy it is to let the words flow. 

Listing the things that are not right. 

That could be better. 

If only.  . . 

Wallowing in the struggle in the path set before me. 

This is not how I want to live. 

I want the words that flow to be life giving. 

1 John 5:13

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God 

so that you may know that you have eternal life.

When your thoughts are consumed by 

personal needs and the focus inward. 

There is little room for the Savior to work. 

So, I pray this scripture. 

2 Corinthians 10:5

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against 

the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

We need to surrender our thoughts and actions. 

Let them be made obedient to Christ. 

Seek words to encourage. . . not condemn. 

Live life so that a difference is made, each day. 

Spring will come when it is ready. 

And it will come. 

Until then my spirit needs to be open to the lessons 

that need to be learned in the Winter. 

The Season where much is happening that can not be seen. 

So in this restless place, I will put my trust in that which I can not see. 

I will look for words that breathe life and encourage. 

I will set my eyes on the eternal and not the temporal. 

It is the Lessons in Lent. 

The waiting. 

The hoping; for more. 

Anticipation that God is not done yet. 

And He's not. 

The best is yet to come. 

Lamentations 3:21-24

Yet this I call to mind

and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.”

Do You Have Plans For The Next 40 Days? ( a re-post from the archives)

Today is the beginning of Lent. 

A practice many in the Christian church do not observe. 

A practice centuries old; representing Jesus' time in the quiet; in the wilderness. 

It was during this time he was tempted by Satan;

Matthew 4:3-4 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

It was during this time that he fasted for 40 days.
A time when he was tired, hungry and weak. 

He withdrew from all the chaos and hustle in town. 

He needed time. 

He needed quiet. 

He was about to endure the cross. 

His heart needed sweet communion with His Father. 

As I have grown older and find myself so easily distracted;

 times like Advent and Lent have become intentional times of focus on the quietness of my heart. 

I have grown to love these times and see the beauty in
why they were included in the church calendar. 

We tend to be so busy. Running here and there.
For good things; good purposes. 

We pray, we worship.

 We tend to forget to be quiet before the Lord. 

Just be still; in his presence. 

Time to shut out the schedule, the demands of the day; to be silent. 

Matthew 4:1-2 tells us that God led Jesus into the wilderness, where he fasted for 40 days. 

I only know of one person who fasted for 40 days.

 He was in the guards and was called to go to Iraq. 

He would tell us of his walk each week. 

It was a powerful journey. 

Why are we so afraid of quiet? 

(Me included. I talk way too  much, just ask the farmer)

Why does quiet prayer and silence leave us undone? 

Last year during Lent,
I attempted to add a trait to my walk instead of depriving myself of something. 

A practice to encourage your walk with the Lord. 

Maybe you're going to attempt to read the bible every day, 

There are great tools out there to help that process. 

The youversion bible allows you to down load the program to your computer or phone
and it will read to you and keep track of where you are.
So, your morning commute can be part of your bible time. 

Or when the kids are napping.
This is just one way and one program. 

I have been using a bookmark tracking system, that works for me. 

There are 4 book marks placed in the bible. 

You have 5 days of grace in each month. ( so thankful) 

Ann Voskamp also has developed a Lenten Devotional that we have used as well. 

These are just tools to enhance a practice to bring us closer to God. 

Choose to make Lent a game changer.

 It takes 30 days to develop a new habit.
This is 40. 

Take action to improve your walk with God.
To get closer to him. 

Maybe your marriage needs 40 days of intentional focus. 

Do something quiet for your spouse each day. 

There is "The Love Dare"

Use these next 40 days to make changes. 

It is a beautiful practice. 

It is not a command or a mandate. 

But a practice that has merit and beauty.

The woman in our church are using the tool:

Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with My Pen (Active Prayer Series)

My cry this Lent will be to continue to seek the "what" God has next for our family. 

What do we do in the aftermath of living a life without our Elijah?

What does it look like when  it seems cancer is at bay?
When a part of your farmer and farm girls heart remains in Haiti.
When there are children needing love.  

I will seek Who God is in all of  this. 

In the quiet.