THINK ON THESE THINGS
Philippians 4:8

Every time I think spring is in the air, it snows!  My family and friends can’t believe it when I call and tell them that it is snowing in Denver or St. Francis.  They’re basking beside pools, spending time at the beach, or out doing yard work, and I’m putting on a winter coat and trekking through the white stuff.  I know it won’t always be that way.  I know that spring will come, it just seems like it’s taking a while.

Life is like that.  Just when we think we know what’s happening, or think we have everything lined out, some thing or some event or some crisis comes along that makes us rethink where we’re at.  Sometimes our faith is tested.  Sometimes our families are tested.  And sometimes every day has the shock value of blizzards in April.

The month of May is about endings and beginnings.  High school and college seniors are looking forward to graduation and new beginnings.  Kindergarteners and sixth and eighth graders are looking forward to promotion.  Mothers are honored.  We remember those who served our country, as well as the saints who have gone before us.  And all those events seem to make us ask “where is the time going?”

Sometimes there is a shock value in those moments, but most often there is a sense of completion and a new beginning.  As much as snow in April might amaze and confound me, I know the moisture is good for the crops that will come.  I know that “there is a time and a season for all things under heaven.”  I know that just as snow melts, that in time all things will come back to the center and God’s plan will be clear.

There will always be days when life seems upside down.  There will always be times when life seems to catch us off guard.  There will be fleeting glimpses of how quickly time moves.  But in each of those moments it is important for us to remember those seasons come and go, just as snow melts and winds die down and flowers poke through the earth and trees bloom. 

Our God stands with us in the blizzard moments and in the springtime moments.  Our God stands with us in the moments that catch us off guard.  Our God stands with us in the times of transition and celebration.  Our God stands with us…always.

 Pastor Morita