Wherefore art thou, Spring?

Although February has only 28 days (and some years, 29),

The month feels twice as long

Thanks to dreary, cold days

Sometimes punctuated with ice and snow.

The fourteenth of the month is a lover’s holiday

But for those not in love, it is a lonely day.

And on the second day, Punxsutawney Phil,

That prognosticator of spring,

Had the nerve to see his shadow once again,

Cursing us with six more weeks of winter.

But my soul longs for Spring,

For warm sunshine on my upturned face,

Bright green grass springing up from the cold, hard ground,

And tulips and daffodils waving brightly in the gentle breeze.

My heart longs for blue skies instead of gray,

With puffy white clouds breaking up the blue.

Leaf buds on barren branches,

Signal the promise of leaves yet to come.

Birds trill their joyful songs

And build their nests in the tall tree tops.

My body longs for warmer temperatures,

So I can put away my winter coat

And wear a light jacket, or if it’s warm enough,

No jacket at all,

So I can enjoy the breeze.

Spring brings new hope and new life

From the cold and barren winter.

O calendar!  Make short work of these last few weeks of winter

And bring me my heart’s desire of Spring!

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives

Reading about the stories here and here made me think a bit more about the last paragraph of my last post.  I felt those sentiments deserved some expansion. 

Did that mother and those two children wake up that Saturday morning and know they were going to be dead by the end of the day?  Or those two men who were in that plane - did they think that would never see their loved ones again?  And on a bigger scale, on 9/11, those who worked in the Twin Towers or in the Pentagon, or who were passengers on those airplanes didn't know that they wouldn't be coming home that evening. It was just an ordinary day for them.

Do any of us really know if we're going to wake up tomorrow morning? Will we be killed in an accident?  Or be murdered?  Or this country may even be attacked by an nuclear weapon.  Or the Rapture may occur and your loved ones who believe in Christ will vanish, leaving you behind.  These events that I just mentioned can happen so quickly that there is not even time to blink.

If God decided that my days on Earth would be over, I have no fear.  I am ready to go whenever the Lord feels my time here on Earth has been completed because I believe in Jesus and if I died, I would be in Heaven.   I have confidence that should my life be over, I would not be lost for eternity. 

Dear friend, if you have not yet repented of your sins and asked Jesus to be the Savior of your soul and of your life, I implore you to do so today.  If you need assistance, I would be more than happy to guide you.  Please leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will contact you.  Don't hesitate - tomorrow may be too late. 

Every day is a good day

My husband gave me a necklace for Christmas with a pendant attached that reads, “Each day is a gift from God.”   Not only is the messsage food for thought, but it’s amazing I got a necklace at all – it wasn’t even on my Christmas list! If you want to see the necklace, post a comment and I'll post a photo of it.  Until then, I found a journal (see below) with this title.

God is the creator of time.  He created the sun and the moon so  there would be day and night.  The Bible also mentions months and years.  Each day is 24 hours long.  Assuming that you sleep 8 hours every night,  that leaves 16 hours for you to make a difference with.   

This gift of today (and every day) from God is something that we can’t return to the store to get what we really want, or regift it to someone else.  It is ours alone, and it is our choice as to what to do with it.  So now that we realize that this day  is a gift from God, what will you do with it?  Will you spend the day helping others?  Will you spend the day working?  Instead of wasting the day doing nothing, you could help spread the Gospel.   Or you could spend quality time with your family.  The choice is yours.

Only God Himself determines how many days we will live.  Someday, your days on Earth will be over and God will come to call you home.  When that happens, will you have made the most of the days He has given you?  When you see God, what will you tell Him about how you spent the days that He gave you?