Rest

In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.  Isaiah 30:15b

There are seasons for lying on your back in the snow.

There are times you've skied downhill on your cross country skis longer than you realized, and it ends up being a time to lie on your back in the snow.  A gentle landing.  The snow feels cool, soft, and good, so maybe it's time to enjoy the perspective change.

In rest you shall be saved

God plans perspective changes and their timing.

If you try to lie on your back on the grass in the summer, you might end up as the final destination in an ant parade.  Or, you might be lying in a place where your dog just pee'ed.  Aak!

Conversely, a good thing about snow is that you can see what's Pure.  Clean.  Lovely.  It's good that God stops us to rest.

Yes, lying on your back in the snow, you get a completely different perspective.  Looking up, you can see how God makes everything beautiful.  One cold flake by another perfect flake, coating the world and making it new.  Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Sometimes the sun starts to melt the snow from the branches, and a big clump of wet snow falls down on your head.  You laugh and laugh.  You could be angry.  But, it is better to laugh.

Sometimes, it seems other things would be more fun than resting.  But you were unwilling, and you said, "No! We will flee upon horses!" Isaiah 30:16 

It looks more exciting to get up - run, play, and frolic in the snow!

Other times, it seems it would be fun to make a difference in the world!
To build something!
But, In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.

It would be so fun to soar!

God still knows when we need rest.

Blessed are all those who wait for Him.  Isaiah 30:18

We will still soar, and in His power, we'll soar even higher, on wings like eagles.

While the earth waits for the spring,
and families wait for the busy seasons of soccer, baseball, and outdoor activities galore,
the winter is a time to rest.
A time to lie in the snow and look up at what's going on above.
God is in the resting and the waiting,
and the season of resting and waiting is a gift to us every year,

until it's time to stand and to walk again.

Your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.  And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it." when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.  Isaiah 30:20

In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.  

Isaiah 30:15b

Memories of the Future

It's been ten years now (minus the living-in-an-RV-traveling-the-country stint) since we moved to our quaint, little town.  I remember one of the first times we drove into our new town and drove by the playground.  

There was a merry-go-round.  

I felt like we'd driven backwards a few decades.

I remember there was a merry-go-round on my elementary school playground when I was in kindergarten.  After kindergarten, the merry-go-round was removed for being too dangerous.  All that was left was a sandy circle, reminiscent of children running in circles and jumping onto seats.  Similar sandy spots seemed to mark playgrounds everywhere in the early 1980s.

I looked at that merry-go-round in our new town in 2005 and remembered my childhood.  I thought how fun it would be to be able to take B, who was our only child at the time, to play on a merry-go-round.  Somehow, looking at the merry-go-round in town, my mind was drawn into my past, and simultaneously flooded with memories that were yet to be made.  I was excited!

It's 2016, and B and E have grown old enough to be off attending sports games and parties with friends, somehow largely outgrowing playgrounds.  

Y and Miss I accompanied me to the town playground.  

This time, as I watched my little two play on the merry-go-round, I savored watching each moment. How quickly B and E played on the merry-go-round and then grew and grew and grew.  When we'd moved to our town, I'd had "memories" of the future.  They have become realities, and some have become memories of the past.  Must enjoy these moments in the present!

Speaking of memories of the past, present, and future, don't get me started on teeter-totters!  

Continuing the past-present-future theme, remember the "letter people" from kindergarten?  Most schools seem to use other letter curricula now, but in our quaint small town, the letter people live on, and Mr. Q and Miss U get married annually.

As I helped my little "Miss U" into a wedding dress so she'd be ready for her kindergarten class celebration, I admit to getting a little teary.  Crazy!  Dressing my daughter in a five-year-old-sized wedding dress, somehow brought to mind "memories" of what might be in the future.

As this kindergarten Q-U couple got ready to walk outside to their rice-throwing class, this moment was minorly heart-stoppingly a foreshadow what I hope she'll experience for real at some point in the future.

Adorable!

I hope this blog isn't getting too wordy, but this past-present-future stuff still has my mind turning.

Char and I were discussing free will vs. predestination and how it all works together.  God is sort of in and out of time, it seems.  He sees the past, He's with us in the present, and He knows what it will all come to in the future.

Minorly, I think I get that, by looking at merry-go-rounds.

And looking at Q-U letter people weddings.

Maybe the present's beautiful.  Maybe it's hard.  But somehow it's all in the perspective of Jesus dying for us in the past and a beautiful wedding day of the bride of Christ in the future.  It's a beautiful big picture.

Why not?  Here's another picture in our great little town from a few years past.  Waiting for the arrival of Jesus.  Which happened in the past.  And will happen in the future.  Beautiful.