I’ll fly away, O Glory, I’ll fly away…

It was not a leisurely trip and I did not relish going backward into winter…

But it was a scenic one!

My sister and I met up in Alaska  to tackle family business and found the welcome perk of all this beauty!

And of course, of being together through thick and thin…

Life passes so quickly…

Only God continues unchanged.

–LS

I will proclaim the name of the LORD; how glorious is our God!

He is the Rock; his work is perfect…He is a faithful God who does no wrong. Ps.105:3,4 NLT

 

 

Watching and Waiting

When the things hoped for are ‘not yet’ we wait, and walk, in steady confidence that God makes all things beautiful in His time.  Knowing every season does in fact have its beauty.

I have been watching and waiting for the little branch I redeemed from the burn pile to show signs of life…

One day there came a peep of redness at the tips of the buds:

The next, to my surprise, came catkins creeping…

When they had dried up and begun dropping off the branch was nearly relegated to the garbage when lo…

And behold!

Against a wintry backdrop green began emerging!

…unfurling to my delight into dainty green leaves

defying the snowfall outside the window…

So we continue to weather a fickle spring–with sunny warmth and clear sidewalks one day and mini-blizzards the next.  And we continue to put in exercise time after work at the Nordic Center rather than on the tandem which waits under a snowy tarp for warmer weather…

 

And I keep children’s books on hand for the sweetness they exude and the smiles they inspire!

This one sits open on my desk these days:

[illustrations by Lisa McCue in M. Wise Brown’s Bunny’s Noisy Book ©2000]

–LS

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Rom 8:22-25 ESV)