Hurrah! At last...

                         The day the Lord
                      created HOPE
                    was probably the
                        same day He
                       created Spring!
                                                                                    - Bernard Williams


It has been a long, long, l-o-n-g winter here in Spokane. We have had record-breaking amounts of snow and ice and record-breaking amounts of rain and flooding.

Almost every time the sun came out you could hear an audible sigh of contentment from all of us Spokanites.

We are sun hungry, that's for sure.

I have been waiting desperately for signs of spring. Truth be told, I have even been a tiny bit grumpy because spring seems to be taking its own sweet time to get here. It is clearly not on my schedule.

I am so, so ready for the grass to turn green, the soggy lawn to show life and the carefully planted daffodils to start blooming. I am ready to have temperatures higher than 40.

I am ready for new life and new beginnings.

My beloved Bert might be just a bit tired of my exclaiming with horror (just today) "Can that really be rain and SNOW falling? Are you kidding me?"

On top of my evaluation of the weather, I must ask Bert almost daily..."Have you seen one yet?"

Quietly, knowing how anxious I am for spring to get here, 
Bert just nods and slowly shakes his head sideways.
He knows, especially after being married to me for 34 years, that I am not going to love his answer. 

So he looks away and says, "Not yet."

Then, knowing that my word for 2017 is HOPE, Bert looks up, smiles, winks, and proclaims...

        "It won't be long, honey. I'll keep watch for you.
           The minute I see it, I'll run and get you."

With quite a dramatic sigh, I manage to say, "Ok."

This saga of waiting and anticipating brings back several old memories...

As a young girl I could hardly stand it until Christmas got here. I would count the days until Jesus was born and Santa finally came down the chimney at our house

I figured that old St. Nick would be awhile since he had to bring presents to all the children world-wide.

I also couldn't wait until my birthday got here. The anticipation often kept me awake at night as I imagined just how it would be. My mind anticipated every detail, even down to the taste of the icing on my cake.

I've never been great at waiting...wasn't great then and I am still not great now.

Bert actually loves that part of me, the part that anticipates positive things and can hardly wait until they get here. The part of me that just holds my breath until  football season, or Christmas or even the start of school.

Yet what have we been waiting for these days, you might ask?

Simple answer: The first green leaf

Not just any green leaf, mind you, but the first green leaf on a tree in our yard.

Yesterday, as we were backing out of our driveway, I happened to look up  and caught a glimpse of color.

Much to Bert's amazement, I stopped the car, flung
myself out the door, ran across the lawn and started to jump up and down in sheer glee!

I yelled, "Hurrah! At last it's here. I knew it would come!"

Bert, a tad dazed by my hasty exit from our vehicle,
decided to come take a look at what was causing all the ruckus.

He looked up, saw that tender bud of a leaf ( I promise you could see just the smallest bit of green) and grinned from ear-to-ear.

He said, "Well isn't that perfect, honey. Here it is our 34th anniversary and God gave us a present. And He must have known what a sign of HOPE that present would be, especially for you."

Yup...exactly. The most perfect gift ever!

So there you have it. After we returned from our errands, and some Baskin and Robbins ice cream (after all it was 46 degrees out), we started to do detective work all over our yard. 

We were on the look out for more green leaves.

Yes, a sign of HOPE. A sign of God's love. A sign that
"all is well!"

A sign of fresh beginnings. A sign that in times of change and tension, that God is still here, right where He belongs, doing what He has always done...bringing new life.

Not only have I been searching for the first green leaf, the past weeks have been a time of searching my heart about my relationship with my Lord.

During this season of Lent, I take lots of time to look at the hard things in life, the challenges that take your breath away. I take time to ponder and look, really look, at how I am living each day. How am I living for God? What sacrifices am I willing to make for Him? 

Lent isn't easy, but it marks the anticipation of a sacrifice and much needed resurrection. 

Lent reminds me that just like searching for the first
leaf of spring, I need to search my own heart. Lent
leads me to Easter.

Spring and Easter are all about HOPE and SACRIFICE and RESURRECTION and new beginnings. They are about focusing on what really matters.

Just as I exclaimed about spring,  "Hurrah, at last. 
I knew it would come," I can also exclaim about Easter "Hurrah, at last. I knew He could come."

God Bless, Happy Spring and have a blessed Easter!
Love, 
Linda