Glimpses of Spring...

I know it's only January... but something is changing.  The other day I could feel the warmth of the sun on my shoulder as I walked into town.  You could almost sense spring seeking to burst out.   Don't get me wrong I've read the long range forecasts suggesting that February could be quite cold; that winter could once again take hold, but still something is changing.  You see regardless of how cold it might get in the days and weeks that follow... spring is coming.  Nothing will stop its life from bursting forth.  Personally I can't wait.

Glimpses of Spring!

As I mentioned there are signs everywhere....

Just the other morning I noticed the signs of life pushing their way through the soil in our front and back gardens.  Tulips, daffodils and crocuses reaching for the sky.  I realise snow could still cover them, but I also know that eventually they'll fill our garden with their beautiful blooms.

I say all this... and then I wake this morning to discover that winter almost in response to my hopeful words is saying NOT SO FAST.... the wind, the rain, the cold remind me that while spring will come, it won't come easily.

I think ministry is very much like this... there are times when you feel nothing is happening, where it appears all your efforts make no difference whatsoever.  Then there are those days where you're caught off guard by the appearing of a shoot, a sign of something.

I remember Reuben Welch, in one of the many classes I took from him at Point Loma saying... "when nothing is happening something is happening, because God is always working."  I like that and hold on to it, but to be honest I really love the signs of spring, don't you?