february 28th

another month flips over

as the melted snow refreezes

and is crushed underfoot

as we tentatively walk by....

artistry in nature

sculptures

nature's form and design unparalleled

traits

My dear Mom is someone who likes presentation, she cares about gezelligheid and how things look, she is an observer of beauty and likes to create it. In this way she blesses those around her.

It warms my heart when I see the same traits in a little girl as she proudly presents a plate of snacks that she herself prepared.

february 19th

Windy and snowy and entirely unlike yesterday. February is fickle.

How much of our lives aren't lived the same. Mom's illness has our emotions being tossed about: one day anxious the next day elated. Our own spiritual state blows hot and cold. Somedays we are likeable some days not. It seems that all of life is ebb and flow. Sometimes mild, sometimes wild.

roadside

11 Degrees felt like a mini vacation...what a delightful springlike day.

But now February is howling in protest with a strong cold wind.

sunrise

How slow we are to align the stacks of worries bouncing around in our heads

and to pile them at the feet or the Saviour. Comfort for the taking.

Relief from anxieties: those that over whelm and those that seem insignificant.

"If I say, my foot slips,

Your mercy, O lord, will hold me up.

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,

Your comforts delight my soul."

february 12

Fields lay barren and stalks stand short,

skies hang gray and skeletal trees reach tall.

Souls feel bereft and spirits seem to search,

Hope suspended and arms reach heavenward.

Even hearts feel winter

when faith feels disconnected.

Through the curtain, by a strangers hospital bed, a young pastor reads.

Psalm 102. We listen, quietly, moved.

"My days are like a shadow that lengthens,

and I wither away like grass....

Yes, they will grow old like a garment;

like a cloak you will change them,

and they will be changed.

But You are the same,

And Your years will have no end".

And at the end of our days God is there.

And when hearts feel disconnected He is there.

Always and forever.

And spring lies quietly beneath winter's cloak.