New Life - Waiting for Renewal

I shared my own resurrection story on my blog some time ago. In reflecting on that time during this waiting, this three days of waiting for Jesus to rise from the tomb, I think I would like to add some thoughts to my story, a few years later.

I have known many friends, sadly, who have lost someone very close to them; a spouse, a child, a brother. For them there is no resurrection here on earth, and we are left with a sense of loss. In my belief, they are truly in a better place, if better means no suffering and no pain.

But there is such beauty to behold on this earth that I don’t want to leave yet! Sometimes it may seem as though you really have to search for it, but you will always find beauty if you look around you.

As warmth very slowly returns to the earth here in the upper Midwest, new life begins to emerge. We are rewarded for those late Autumn bulb plantings with a bright show of color amongst newly sprouted foliage.

I step outside barefoot, far before many people probably would, to begin to feel the earth’s energy through the souls of my feet as the ice melts away and the ground begins to soften. I close my eyes to the warmth of the sun on my face, and hear the birds singing their Springtime songs, after too many months of silence.

We had one day with 70˚ temps, and that was enough for my lilac bush to begin to break open its buds and for my magnolia flowers to begin to burst forth from their fuzzy wintering cover. I love to let the petals touch my face, feeling their smoothness. Soon they will unfurl into surprisingly durable multi-petaled flowers that somehow endure surprisingly strong Spring storms. 

About the same time, the Red Maple begins to put on its own show. I never quite realized the patriotic theme of it, but we do have red, white and blue, with this bright, blue sky overhead.

We wait for the renewal. We know life will return. 

And with the same certainly I know we will return to some place that is very different from the beauty of this earth. Surely there is beauty beyond compare in Heaven, or whatever is your belief after we pass from this earth. There is such complexity to our spiritual being; it would be hard to imagine that this earthly existence is all there is. I do believe our spirit continues. Into what realm, I do not know for certain. For now, all we have is our time here on the earth. We need to spend it for all it's worth. 

So live. Learn. Grow. Breathe in the air. Celebrate this one life that we have. Celebrate the life well lived. Know that from wherever our loved ones are, somehow we are still connected. Just as we are all connected on this earth, in ways we don’t even understand. But we know this to be true. In these times, no one can deny that.

Blessed Easter Day to all who celebrate the birth of our Risen Christ. Pray for peace and for new life to come to us all once we break through this wall of oppression and into a new world, where awareness replaces fear, and being conscientious and mindful sets a standard for social interaction.

Be well, my friends. Take care and God Bless.

I Am Forgiven

Sunday Scripture

and a

 Song

"Then Jesus said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' "

Luke 7:48 NIV

You know that feeling, the one when you realize you are completely free?

Free from sorrow.

Free from pain and strife.

Free from guilt and shame.

We may know all, or some of these painful feelings every day in our lives.

And freedom from them? That's sounds wonderful, but we live in the real world. Right?

Only partly true. 

We life in a fallen world. And it's far too easy to focus our eyes on the pain, misery and heartbreak that touches our lives every day.

With the internet, we are instantly connected with every news source that loves to share the latest sadness of natural disaster, human suffering, and mankind's inhumanity to its own.

It can be downright depressing.

However, we do have a choice where we keep our focus. And we can choose to focus on what is good in life. We can keep our lives focused on God. 

With an argumentative teenager in the house who questions everything (not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely exhausting!) I am challenged daily to profess my faith amidst a world gone awry. 

I admit that I am not always able to convey the message I feel in my heart, that God is good, and God is sovereign. 

I have questions, too. 

One thing I know for certain, is that I am forgiven. God reminded me of this once again. 

I woke this morning with that thought firmly in my heart, mind and soul. I am forgiven. 

I don't have to feel guilt and shame. I don't have to suffer the anguish of reliving my past mistakes (over and and over again).

The freedom that comes from knowing this truth is liberating. 

Not the kind of feeling that makes me want to climb to the mountaintop and shout and sing.

It's the freedom that gives me peace, and makes me feel unbelievably grateful that Jesus took this burden from me so that I can live life more fully. 

I am forgiven. I let that seep into my heart and my soul. And I know peace. 

If you have burdens you carry, hiding them so that no one knows your pain, know that God knows. He sees everything. He doesn't judge. There is no trial by jury. 

You are forgiven.

All He asks is that we strive to change. Repent. Become new in the gift of life he offers us every day.

Go, and sin no more. (John 8:11b NLT)

I wish you peace, my friends. I pray for hope, for all people. I know in my own life when I keep my eyes focused on God I find peace and hope, and the fruits of the Spirit become tangible and real.

It takes work, and sometimes choosing not to click on yet another horrendous story on the internet. 

It is a choice, as to where we put our energies and focus our spirit.

It is as simple as asking (though it's usually more like begging) for forgiveness, and a chance to start anew that we never believed we could have. 

This freedom can be yours.

You are forgiven.


Nichole Nordeman's song "Finally Free" says it all. Please watch and enjoy.



Subscribers can click on Hope to find to view this video on my web site.
Mobile viewers can access the link here on youtube.


Previous posts on this theme for your encouragement:

You Can Begin Anew

Life Renewed - Bring the Rain! 

Spring Cleaning of Your Heart

When God Slows Us Down

Have you ever had a season when you felt like you were waiting?

A feeling of anticipation, but laced with an underlying feeling of patience?

God slowed me down. Caused me to pause; take time for reflection. Find my way.

I knew this time was for a reason. I was patient in its nondescript emotion and the vague awareness that there was more than just waiting and healing going on.

Now I see.

God uses the time I slow down to allow my heart to hear its inner self, and His whispered direction.

I needed this time.

And from it is birthed new direction, new growth. New life.

Did I not just write about springtime and new life in my last post?

And now it is happening to me.

My heart has been opened. My eyes have been made to see clearly. That is, through my heart and not through my mind.

And I have hope, won from wandering through the valleys, lost, but still with faith.

As the sun still rises, I have a chance at being made new. We all do.

Every day.

To me, that is a great miracle. A great gift. And the bearer of hope.  To know that we are free to choose, to open our hearts, to live again.

Forgiveness is freedom.  And we have the choice to choose that, too.

Just as with an ascent at 10,000 ft., I slow my pace to catch my breath.

Take it easy, one day at a time. 

Change takes time, like getting acclimated to high elevations.

Just breathe.

All is well.

 

Burgeoning New Life, In More Ways than One

A verdant green graces the hillsides, and yellow-headed dandelions spread their color over the gentle slopes.

Budding trees share the most welcome green as their tiny leaves unfurl into the sunshine.

Blessed spring rains bring this beauty to life, and we bask in the glory of springtime in Wisconsin.

It is a celebration to feel life again in our natural world. Our never-ending winter has finally yielded to a new season.

Spring has taken her sweet time to get here. Below normal temperatures delayed blossoms from showing their faces.

Stormy winds shed magnolia petals all too soon. And dark, dreary days perpetuated the despair many of us felt through this season of cold and dark days.

But have you noticed the length of our days recently? As we near the summer solstice, the daylight stretches into the nighttime hours. Before I know it, it's 9 p.m. and the daylight has only recently faded from the sky.

Today dawns warm and humid after yesterday's rain. Soon we no longer will feel surprised as we step outside into the morning air and realize that it's actually warm outside.

Spring is exploding around us! We need to enjoy every second of this brilliant green, expansion of life. Soon we will fall face first into the vibrant energy of summertime, and then there's no slowing down until the dog days arrive and force us to move more slowly.

For now, I treasure the springtime. The celebration of new life, the discovery of new plant growth and baby bunnies, and all the joys of the season.

If nature gets a chance at renewal, shouldn't we take one, too?

 "For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." 

Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

I feel it, deep within a hidden place, a quiet space, reserved for contemplation.

A pause. A deep reflection. On ongoing attempt at finding my way. 

I pray God will guide me. I know that it is His hand that has stilled me, has slowed me; and that His love will show me the way, guiding me on this path of self discovery.

"Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.  Lead me by your truth and teach me,  for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you."   Psalm 25:4-5

 
This, my life verse, guides me through all the changes in my life. I need to remember to pray this Psalm and remember its truth, and trust in the One who will lead me.

We need to be open to the changes that are happening all around us, and feel the hope that new life brings.

The promise is there for all of us, just as it is in all living things.

As the natural world sings into new life, let your heart find it's own song.

It's there, waiting to be born with the new life inside you. Nurture it, and let it grow. 

Morning at the Marsh

I can finally feel it.

 
Life, returning to the earth. The bitterest of winters has finally retreated, and spring is ushering in new life where there was nothing but a frozen world.





Plants, for many months dormant under the frozen ground, eagerly push up through the softening earth. We rejoice at the sight of anything green after months of nothing but white.

I honestly thought it might not happen. There was a time, several weeks ago and more than five months into the worst winter in thirty years, that part of me felt I would never see green again.

I want to capture the morning sounds of the marsh as I sit with my window open and write. My vista is the scenic overlook of the Vernon Marsh at the end of Frog Alley Road in Mukwonago. My home is somewhere across this wide expanse of nature-in-the-wild.

I come here, where the morning sun warms my face, and listen for the sounds of life returning to this place. It has been a frozen world for so long. It makes me feel peaceful to hear life returning to this place.

Now I can hear the songs of many songbirds that have returned, including the red-winged blackbirds calling to each other. If I close my eyes, I can imagine steamy, hot summer afternoons in the marsh, with tall cattails towering over me, and turtles hiding in the cool water or resting on a log warming themselves.

As I sit here with my coffee, I can hear the sand hill cranes call out sleepily from some hidden place below me in the marsh.

I hear the robins, who have begun their earnest song: 

"It's Spring! 

It's Spring!

It's Spring!"

 

 
After a difficult day recently, I came here early to spend time with God. I wanted to spend time in prayerful thankfulness for His constant presence through the trials of the previous day.

I found such healing beauty here in the morning songs of the birds, the caress of the sun, and the soft vistas of morning light, that I vowed to come back here frequently to start my day.

I've always felt closest to God through nature. And though I've never felt far from God through this seemingly endless winter, my heart has longed to feel life and hope through my connection to the living, natural world.

I always do my happy dance, at least in my heart, when I can finally feel the earth's life energy return; when I can feel the earth coming back to life as I walk through my back yard with bare feet in the cool grass.

Winter in the woods at Retzer Nature Center

Though life is present in winter, I liken it to molecules frozen in ice -- they move so slowly as to seem non-existent. This is how most of the natural world feels when we are in the deep freeze of a long Wisconsin winter. 


But now I can feel that the earth, at least here is our part of Wisconsin, is once again a living, breathing entity, full of life, offering the promise of the next two seasons of great beauty in the flowering and green plants that thrive in our seasonal warmth.

We all feel it. Everyone seems to have more energy, and people smile more readily. Perhaps this is a partial explanation as to why we live here, and why we endure the long months of bitter cold and snow.

Perhaps we wait for the reward of new life; that feeling of renewal, that grabs us and turns us to face the sun and its warmth. To know the inexplicable joy that finding that first blooming crocus brings, and to see the tulip leaves pushing up through the earth with their promise of springtime beauty.

Now I'm not saying that I wouldn't like to try living on Maui, where flowers and natural beauty bloom year-round. I'm certainly not saying that at all!


But our reward for enduring months of cold, bitter winds, is the promise and hope of new life that springtime brings. We feel this deep in our being, and wait with hope for the change in the seasons that will bring life back into our natural world. 

Truly, this renewal feeds me to the core of who I am. My creativity is flowing again, right along with the sap in the maple trees. It won't be long until summer is in full bloom. But for now, let us cherish the simple joys of springtime. And offer thanks for the many little surprises of new life that blossom around and within us. 



Here are the early morning sounds of the marsh I captured on video to share with you. Enjoy!

Signs of Life

My red maple coming back to life

 

It seems easier to breathe when I've left the darkness of the tomb behind. Our Easter celebration brings me great joy, sharing a feast with family and friends. 

Knowing we are celebrating the very fact that makes us Christians; the belief that Jesus died for us and rose again as a promise of our eternal life with Him, fills me with peace and a deeply felt joy.

However, I experienced a real let-down after the holiday. There was lots of food preparation to do and music to prepare for worship. A LOT to do.

I found myself feeling a little like Christmas, when we can put too much into the "doing" and not enough into the real meaning of the day. And perhaps, that's why I felt the "post-Easter" blues. 

In addition, everyone went home. While five of us in the house is hardly empty, with everyone home the house is so full of life, and I love it. It reminds me of when all the boys were growing up, and we always had a houseful, whether it was just our family or the always-welcome friends of our sons who came and ate many a meal here. 

So, to distract my brain from my sadness, I started to write. Not everyone's cure, I'm sure. But what has been birthed is my new blog, Colleen's Gardens. I've been wanting to start a gardening blog for quite some time, to share my horticultural knowledge and experience, and deep love of all things green and flowering. 

So now you can read my words in two places, but this blog will still focus on my faith. And the hope of springtime, for me, is what faith is all about. 

I spent a morning recently, on the overlook by the Vernon Marsh. I'll write about my experience there tomorrow. Taking this time out to just "be" in the early morning hours renewed my sense of who I am in this grand scheme of life.

I'm excited to note the changes in my landscape with the warmer days and sunshine. Next week will be cold again, with rain, but for now the sun is shining and the skies are blue. Enjoy the beauty of the world awakening around us. It is truly a gift to feel life stir within our hearts and lives again. 

Blessings to you, my friends.

Life Renewed - Bring the Rain!

A gentle spring rain patters on my skylights, and the fat droplets bounce off tulip petals and new spring leaves. The rain is cleansing, and the air smells fresh. How often does God bring the rains to cleanse the earth?

After a long winter of snow and ice, we welcome the first deluge of spring rains to wash away the remaining salt residue from our roadways. More spring rains thaw the ground, awakening the roots of plants that have been sleeping for months.

Subsequent rains bring green growth back into our lawns, and before long buds begin to swell on the trees.

Color has returned to the world where only browns and grays existed for a very long season. The bright spring green of new leaves on the trees and shrubs awakens my senses and brings me hope. Flowering crabapples are awe-inspiring; the colorful palate of spring bulbs dotting the landscape brings smiles to winter-weary faces.

This celebration of new life brings us back to life, too. Hearing the birds’ happy songs as they begin courting and preparing for a new season of parenting fills the morning stillness with beauty that makes my heart sing.

Creatures of the natural world no longer need to only strive for survival. They are free to find joy in living as new life is bursting all around them.

Can we celebrate this way in our human existence, too? As the spring rains wash away the weight of winter’s hopelessness, can we be born anew? I pray that God will wash over us and cleanse us to renew our hope, that we may embrace new thinking to open our minds to the possibilities before us.

Perhaps as the rains fall outside, we need to pray for God to reign in our hearts anew, showing us the way to live and the reason we are here.

Invite God in. Ask Him into your heart. Invite Him to live in you and show you the pathway to peace. The gentle nudging of the Spirit can be heard more clearly when we are already attuned with God. 


Be ready to embrace life as fresh new hope blows into your heart. The world around us is full of new beginnings. 

The Joy of Springtime

Sunday Scripture

and a

Song

Mornings are again filled with the sweet serenade of songbirds in the trees outside my window. How I miss their chorus through the long winter months here in Wisconsin. Today I share this scripture from the Song of Songs which echos my joy at the birth of new life. 

We can expereince rebirth in any season. The joy of discovering new life inside of us is the Spirit's way of making us new. I pray your winter 'season' has passed, allowing joy to fill your heart as you experience new life and new hope.          ~ Blessings ~

"Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. 

The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air."  Song of Songs 2:11-12 (NLT)

I chose to share a special song by Cat Stevens today. "Morning has Broken" is a familiar tune to many of you. There is great joy in the beauty of the natural world around us, and even greater joy in connecting with God through the beauty of all of His Creation.

Subscribers please click here to view this video on my blog site.

Hope in the Gift of New Life

What comes to mind when you think of new life? The incredible blessing of babies being born? New growth of plants in the landscape in spring? These indeed are gifts of new life given to us here on earth.

But what about being reborn? Being made new. Inside of you. In your heart, in your mind, and in your outlook.

We all have an opportunity for God to work in our lives and change our perspective. Before this can happen, though, I believe we need to submit our lives to him.

For many people, giving up the wheel to let God steer is a scary proposition. But if we think we have it all under control on our own, we are misleading ourselves. Submission to God’s plan for our lives is an act of obedience. We acknowledge we really can’t do this on our own, and understand that He has a better plan for us.

This Sunday we are planting spring bulbs with our Sunday school children. We will talk about the promise of new life hidden inside the bulb and how, with the right conditions, the bulb will begin to grow in the spring and will produce a beautiful flower. The flowers will be there for all to see and admire God’s hand in creation.

Through trusting God that the bulb will grow and produce a flower, we can see how trusting God to work in our lives can produce something new in us, too. When we submit to his greater authority, and trust that He has our very best interest at heart, we can hope for new life or a new direction in our thinking.

Sometimes the changes are dramatic, and sometimes they subtly sneak up on us as we realize we are seeing things a little bit differently. There may be a great hurdle in your life that you need to overcome. Or you may just need an attitude adjustment to open your heart to see the world a little bit more through God’s eyes.

When we are open to have the Creator of new life work within us, great changes can be made. And hopefully, our light will shine for all to see the beauty of God’s creation in us.