Spring Cleaning of Your Heart

As early blooms explode color into my landscape, I can’t help but notice the flower beds that need cleaning after winter’s storms. Old leaves, twigs and dead plant materials need to be removed for the beauty of this year’s plants to be enjoyed.

Traditionally we clean our homes after the long winter months, though I have adopted more of a seasonal approach to this thought of “spring cleaning.” I like to clean for each season. In spring we need to remove the dusty feeling of being closed up in the house for too long, and for summer, well to be honest, just enough cleaning to get by – I have too much to do outdoors!  

But if we get away for a summer vacation, the house needs a good cleaning when we return, as cobwebs seem to form when the house is still and silent. Fall cleaning is a good time to catch-up after a busy summer of outside work and activities, and before the big Christmas holiday decorating I like to clean and dust and make the house sparkle and shine before the glitz and glamour is added.

Spring cleaning is in progress here in my home, and yesterday as I shook a small throw rug outside I remembered the days of old when large area rugs were hung up outside in the spring and beaten to remove a winter’s worth of dust. 

I imagined children squealing as clouds of dust were beaten out of the rug, and how dirty those children (or housewives) would feel after beating and breathing in the dust of the floor debris after a winter season. I was thankful I had only that little rug in my hand.

 

All this cleaning has gotten me to wondering if I need to do some spring cleaning in my heart. Is it time to take a deeper look and imagine the debris that clings to my spirit and makes me heavy-laden? What can I do to release these old hurts and the disappointment of unfilled expectations?

The best answer I have is to pray. God knows me inside and out. He knows my dreams and my wishes and my capabilities. He knows where I’ve failed and where I’ve fallen. He sees me as I struggle with acceptance of my situation.  Only God knows my fears and my hopes. And only His love can bring me peace.

So I will pray. I will ask God to clear out the cobwebs of uncertainty and wipe the dust from my eyes so that I can more clearly see the blessings in my life instead of the burdens I carry.

I will ask for His help to release my heartache and let it blow away like dust in the wind. Just as fresh linens drape the mattress, His peace covers me in fresh perspective and serenity. I must remember to always be grateful for the gift of God's presence in my life.  

Without knowing Him, I would not know peace. Without knowing His presence in my life, I would flounder and succumb to the waves of despair that threaten to drown me.

God is my Hope. My prayer is for Him to be with me always. And I pray that you would know Him intimately and know His peace.

Search yourself. Do a little "spring cleaning" and ask God to show you places in your heart that harbor old hurts or suffering that should be released. Let them go, and allow the winds of change to blow freshly upon your life. We would all do well to take up a little spring cleaning of our hearts, and begin again anew.

He Lives!

Easter Sunday

Scripture and a Song

"and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 He is Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 1:4 (NLT)

Enjoy this powerful song by Nicole C. Mullin

Redeemer

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My prayer is that you would find great joy in realizing God's immeasurable love for us.

Happy Easter!

In Search of New Life

Early on a Good Friday morning, I was scheduled for surgery. It wasn’t routine. This was a re-excision, which meant they were opening up the already healing wound to make sure they got all the cancer. I was devastated. I was healing well and had been through the first surgery only weeks before. But I didn’t have “clean margins” meaning the edges of the tissue removed from my breast were not clear of those nasty little cancer cells. And they had to go back in to make sure they got them all.

Undergoing the first surgery was terrifying, but this second procedure traumatized me. Right from the start, my husband wasn’t allowed into the surgery preparation area for my support. The IV ached in wrist. They gave me nothing for anxiety though I couldn’t stop crying. I had to walk to the operating room toting my own IV stand, and drag myself up onto the narrow, cold table to be strapped down. 

The anesthesia didn’t work! First I had to tell them "Hey, I'm still awake under here!" and they gave me a little bit more anesthesia. Then I woke up in the middle of the procedure and felt my surgeon tugging and pulling as he stitched me back together. And yes, I felt the needle. Finally, there were no “amnesic” effects of the anesthesia, either. I remember everything, and believe me, it was a trauma. Along with the anesthesia drugs in my body, the pain meds they gave me plunged me even deeper into my darkness.

My family in the busy waiting room thought I would be ecstatic that the procedure was over. As they wheeled me out in a wheelchair, I felt a dark thundercloud over my head. No one knew of the autrocities I had just experienced. That was my Good Friday.

I came home to my bed to heal, just as I had for the previous surgery and another one only a few months before. I was beaten down, bruised, and my spirit longed for peace. I chose sleep.

  

My darkness continued on Saturday, as I lay in my tomb. Dead to life and dead to the world, I shut myself off from the lively activities of my family in the rest of the house. The drugs still lingered in my blood, and my inactivity did nothing to release them. I tried to eat. The day lingered on. Then night, and more rest.

Easter Sunday dawned brightly. The sun shone and birds sang and I crawled out of my darkness, out of my tomb of self-pity and found new strength. I perched on the window seat and watched my grown sons search for their Easter baskets along with their little brother. I laughed at their struggles to locate them, and felt new life course through my body once again.

I felt filled with love and life. I was alive! The sun shone warmly on my back and my heart warmed with my love for my family. I had made it through! The darkness lifted and though I was weak, I felt my purpose and the promise of the joy life brings.

We all live our own resurrection stories. Stories of new life and new growth and new opportunities to grow into the persons we are meant to become. Not every rebirth involves such intense physical components as I experienced, but most of the time the change comes from deep within us and the rebirth is painful in its own way. 

Several years have passed since that Good Friday. The physical and emotional scars are well-healed. My walk with God is closer than I ever knew it could be, and I have learned to trust Him for my every need.

I’ve experienced many smaller rebirths throughout this time, knowing God is leading me ever higher up the mountain on hind’s feet. He walks beside me and has gone before me. The way is clear.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Spring has Sprung!

Under ominous skies, the first of our April showers approaches. But we don't have to wait until May for our flowers. Truth be told, the daffodils and tulips are already beginning to bloom, and some have shared their sweet palate of color with us for many days already.

Springtime beat the robins to my backyard this year. Usually, through the cold and blustery month of March, these harbingers of spring with their russet breasts and bright yellow beaks hop around last year’s lawn looking for bits of something to eat.

This year, we experienced an unusual warm spell in mid-March. Record-setting temperatures caused my white magnolia to bloom over a month early. Sadly its normally long-lasting tepals turned brown and blew off within days due to the extreme heat. It usually is not eighty degrees when my magnolia tree blooms! 

The return to more ‘normal’ temperatures (forty degrees colder!) under relatively gloomy skies, turned everyone’s feelings back to an internal winter. People seemed grumpy and sad. Though we knew the early warmth was unusual weather for these parts, we had reveled in the expectation of an early summer.

Winter hats, coats, gloves and scarves were discarded as we dug out our shorts and tank tops. I found the heat exhausting, too much too soon, but still didn’t want to complain. After months of cold, even a mild winter like last season’s can wear on you after awhile.

The gift of all of this warm weather has been the early flowers, and new leaves on the trees and shrubs. Green looks great on the natural world, especially after months of seeing only brown or white in the landscape. Several neighbors have already cut their grass. They seem to be enjoying getting their mowers out and thankfully storing the snow blowers for the warm seasons.

The bulbs we planted at our church with the Sunday school classes last fall are up and blooming earlier than planned, but since the return to cooler temperatures, the flowers are lasting longer and the blooms should last through Easter day.

Everyone at church is noticing the flowers and commenting on their beauty. We planted about 250 bulbs, about 75 of which were little crocuses. This year the crocuses came and went in a matter of days with the heat.

The tulips and daffodils are in their glory, and I’m amazed how many people have commented to me how beautiful the church grounds appear. While I am thrilled that people would notice our efforts  (and thankful that everything actually came up!) my real joy will be to see the children’s faces as they realize how they contributed to adding beauty to their church property. And not just for this season, but for many spring seasons to come.

Our heritage is in our children. Teach them to sow, and to reap. Teach them to sing, and to pray. Show them a merciful God who loves them unconditionally. And love them without reservation.  Let them know forgiveness, and teach them to practice it. Demonstrate compassion, and acceptance. The future of humanity depends on it.

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.

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