The Morning's Blaze of Glory

I don’t think we were ever so grateful for Easter to arrive as we were this year. At least that's how I felt about the new hope that comes with the resurrection of our Lord. And, what a declaration was made when a downpour of rain came and knock-me-outta’-my-bed-thunder and lightning early morning. I thought: "God, is that You echoing the sounds of the morning of Your beloved Son's resurrection when the earthquake rolled away the stone from His tomb? And, then You accentuate the 'great escape' when I see the sun breaking through the clouds in splendor as I drive to my children’s home for Easter breakfast?" The dismal, dark skies broke through like a blaze of glory -- maybe like Jesus broke through on that Resurrection morning!

Immediately, I started thinking about another Gospel song by the Gaither’s with Guy Penrod singing these words:
“Then came the morning, night turned into day
The stone was rolled away. Hope rose with the dawn
Then came the morning. Shadows vanished before the sun.
Death had lost and life had won, for morning had come."

I googled the song to listen to those inspiring words again. These lines touched me as much as the Christmas song, “Mary, did you know?” These words speak to her heart once again:
"The angel, the star, the kings from afar,
the wedding, the water, the wine.
Now it was done, they'd taken her Son, wasted before His time.
She knew it was true, she'd watched Him die too
She'd heard them call Him just a man.
But deep in her heart, she knew from the start
Somehow her Son would live again. Then came the morning…"

That was yesterday. This is the day after THAT never-to-be-surpassed morning. The plastic eggs are put away, the Easter meal left-overs are in the fridge. But, our new normal may be to leave up the palms, the crosses, and red ribbons. We’re not ready to put away the exhilaration that comes from our Savior coming back to life. Imagine what Easter Sunday was like. I mean, wow. It must have been a blaze of glory.

But, that blaze of glory wasn't temporary. It ignited a movement -- a spiritual, proactive, action-driven movement of discipleship. It was a movement of “let's change the world". And that mandate and movement is now passed on to you and me. We don’t need a microphone or a platform to share the good news. We just share it in our homes, our neighborhood, and the marketplace. Yes, we're the ones with the palms and crosses on our doors or in our yards. We're the ones that blog, post a comment about our Lord's love. We listen for His voice. We stand to our feet. We follow where He leads. And, we tell any and every one that will listen: “This is the God who loves us so much HE gave us His best." This is the God who sends us.” Everything changed THAT morning! A blaze of glory was ignited. Are we catching the flame to go and BE the followers who proclaim our resurrected Lord and Savior?

For Holy Easter chills, listen to Guy Penrod and the Gaithers sing this exhilarating song of morning glory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGjfF31zB24

Are You Planted Firmly on the SPOT?

Are You Planted Firmly on the SPOT?
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He will be LIKE A TREE planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7,8

Living in Oklahoma, we know what those violent winds, lightning, and even ice can do to a tree. The winds threaten to uproot the tree and carry it away. The lightning and the ice breaks off branches. And when the storm is over, whether it’s a summer storm or a winter ice storm, things can look quite hopeless for that tree.

Yet, if we look closer; the same storm that opened crevices in the earth around the trunk of the tree helped the roots go deeper. And now, the tree has access to new, deeper sources of nutrition and water. And it has been purged of all its dead branches. We witnessed that with a tall tree in our own yard. When the winter’s ice storm stripped the tree of so many of its largest branches, it looked as if that tree would surely die, but we determined to wait, and sure enough, that tree returned to full foliage and even more beautiful than before.

Metamorphically speaking, if we would be like those trees that crave being planted by God's river of life, we, too, would weather the "faith challenging" storms that come to us. Those opposing winds can sure blow hard against us -- even shaking us violently. We even wonder if we'll even make it another day. But when we stand firmly in our faith, trusting in the Lord, with our confidence in Him, then we'll be like that tree that is planted by the water. We won't need to fear. We'll embrace the winds, because we'll know they come to only make us stronger. Just like the tree's roots that run deep, our "faith" root system will run deep and we'll be nourished and strengthened to stay STANDING on the SPOT! Tough times don't last....but tough trees do!

In my case, the "Donna tree" is soon to be physically transplanted to a whole new city and state, but it doesn't depend on where that will be, because my root system is "non-transplantable". It is FIXED on the SPOT where it was planted in the first place. This tree will never lose touch with the source of its strength. This tree trusts in the Lord and my confidence -- in the storms and in the sunshine -- is in Him!

Learning to Dance in the Rain

When the storms of life come, it’s quite easy to nestle down all snug as a bug in a rug, and just wait for them to pass. After all, who wants to go outside when it’s lightning and thundering and the winds are blowing 90 miles an hour? It’s also quite easy to complain about the weather. In the winter – we complain about the cold, and in the summer we complain about the heat. Don’t you love it when you see little kids, completely CARE-FREE, bundling all up for winter fun, or running out, dancing and splashing in the rain? And, don’t you love it when little kids play in the summer – not paying any attention to the heat – so much so, that we have to remind them to put on sunscreen?

I’ve figured it out. Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass, or the winter or summer to pass – or STUFF that comes our way to pass. It’s about learning to enjoy the journey, whatever season it is, or whatever the weather might be -- and even while going through the storms of life. Then what is it about? It's about learning how to dance in the rain, in the storms of life and in the seasons of life.

I’ve been through some real downpours in the last few years, and this gal has become quite the accomplished “dancer”. I know how to bend, and not break; I know how to do the “quick step” and I know how to “slow dance”, and, best of all, I’ve learned to depend on my Dance Partner, and how to follow His “lead”. And in case you’re wondering who my Dance Partner is ----- He’s the ONE Who created the dance!!