Simple Joy

"As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease." Genesis 8:22

"My lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.

¹¹ See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.

¹² Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land." Song of Solomon 2:10-12

Yesterday a huge winter storm rolled into town. We've had winter storms before this winter, but this one was pretty nasty-it was blowing horrifically and it was near white-out conditions sometimes. So we stayed home last night instead of going to the first night of a conference we are going to at church this weekend. Instead we curled up in front of the computer and watched the church service live on the Internet- isn't technology a wonderful thing!

But what keeps on making me smile these days is knowing that the days of snowstorms are almost past, and that spring is on the way. It has to be, because the Bible says right there in Genesis that as long as the earth endures, the seasons will also. Hooray! About a month ago I was given a whole bunch of tulip and daffodil bulbs, and it was recommended that I try forcing them, so that I would have flowers in my home. So I followed instruction and planted the bulbs, and in the last two days, two of the tulips have opened up. Oh! They're so beautiful and so full of the reminder of God's promises. Every time I look at a tulip I am reminded of the wonder of God's creation. Of the miracles of planting a seed and reaping a harvest. It's truly miraculous that this ugly brown bulbous thing that I planted in the soil has sprouted forth a beautiful yellow flower. There's a very light scent around my kitchen sink, where the tulips are right now, and it just gives me such joy... I spend a lot of time there, and I spend a lot of time talking to God there, so it seems more than appropriate that as I spend time with God, I am also enjoying the scents and the beauty of the spring to come.

Isn't God's creation wonderful?

"The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.

¹⁷ It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter." Psalm 74:16-17

**P.S. I'll be taking an extended weekend this weekend, and I will not be blogging on Saturday. God Bless, and I'll see you on Monday.