a wonderful Spring

This has been the most enjoyable Spring for me yet, I was telling Deb recently. Maybe it's simply appreciating more and more God's creation. It is partly the weather, as we didn't just jump into Summer from Winter, as it seems like we've done before (to the harm of Michigan fruit crops, by the way). I love to see life springing forth again, from the trees, plants, hearing the birds singing, green everywhere.

They say it may be a milder Summer, and I won't argue against that. Deb does like the heat, at least well into the 80's, if not much more than that. Summer is her favorite time of the year, and I can understand that, since I've seen her shiver even in the Summer (over cold, cold homemade ice cream, to be fair). It is a good time to enjoy the outdoors, and go camping and/or hiking. Autumn with the relief from the hottest part of Summer, the beautiful change in colors of the leaves, and the festivals that go traditionally with harvest time, is a not distant second for me, to Spring.

I like Spring, Fall, Summer and Winter, in that order. I like them all, but we "Michiganders" can be prone to complaining about the long Winters here. Winter is beautiful, and I am thankful, given all the lake effect (from Lake Michigan) cloudy days we have in the Winter, particularly through the first half of it, that we do have snow, which for the issues it brings does brighten the atmosphere considerably. And snow has a beauty all its own, especially right after it has fallen. We've had close to record amounts of snowfall over the past two winters. In spite of the difficulties of Winter, I'd miss it, if we lived in a warmer climate.

What is your favorite season, and why? Maybe what is your least favorite, or the order you would rate them?

seasons and the Potter's hands

Who doesn't like the four seasons? One is a little long for us up here in Michigan. But this Spring is beautiful to behold, a real Spring, a gradual warming, the trees in full bud and bloom against the blue sky.

There are seasons in our lives as well. Tomorrow Deb and I are attending a silent retreat at the Dominican Center at Marywood, here in Grand Rapids. Hopefully a time where I'll truly be endeavoring to draw near to God, along with others.

Maybe today I need to kind of step back and look at my life, what God has been doing or wanting to do in it. This past Wednesday in our chapel at my work at RBC Ministries, we had an interesting speaker who talked about the Potter's hands shaping us into the vessels he wants, and how we need to learn to feel those hands on us. It's hard sometimes in the midst of that shaping, if we know there's a defect, or if we're resisting the Potter's hands. Also when we get a glimpse or sense of just how far we are from where the Potter wants us to be.

It's also good to be encouraged and get a sense, that while we have a long way to go, we've come a long way. And best of all to live up to what we've attained to, in Jesus. That can be the challenging part. It's easy to make a commitment, but harder to live that out day after day, through all the circumstances life brings. But in all of that we can learn to sense and feel the Potter's hands on us. And be open and compliant to his working.

What would you like to add to this?