Spring is coming! A reflection on Hope.

Spring is slowly creeping in to greet us. I was so pleased to find these snowdrops yesterday in my garden.

I sat right down on the ground and watched a little bee buzz busily around them. I cannot not tell you the joy I felt to see these Spring flowers push their way through the stubborn old soil.

When we  found we were moving back to Germany my first thought was, "NO, I don't want to leave home."  Don't get me wrong, I loved living in Germany from 1996-2000 but, it felt so right to be home with family, friends and our new faith community at Belfast United Methodist.  I tried hard not to complain but many nights I cried myself to sleep.  I knew that I had to hang on to FAITH.  The faith that God was asking us to walk this path back to Germany. The faith that it was His will and the faith that this was all more than I could understand in HIS greater plan. To be honest some days my grip on faith was only by my fingertips!

When Mac went on the 7 pm- 7am shift there was no possibility of making new friends with him on those hours because we went to bed when the rest of the world was waking up.  3 and a half months I have been so sad and depressed. This is Mac's second week on day shift in his new engineering position and something inside has changed.  Along with these Spring flowers my HOPE has arrived.  Sometimes we get to the point when we think hope is gone and the end of sorrow will never come.  Psalm 30: 5c points out, "Weeping may last for a night, But  a shout of joy comes in the morning."

This morning as I took my daily walk in our little garden I found these flowers. They were just poking their heads up out of the ground yesterday and look at them today.  My friend Sue B. tells me they are Hellebore.   These flowers to me are MORE HOPE that the season Spring is on the way and more hope that I am now entering a spiritual Spring.  Mourning what is past is finished and the joy of discovering what God's plans are for me here in Germany is starting to excite me.  So friends, winter is nearly over.  For those of you who have been struggling as I was, my prayer for you  is that JOY COMES IN THE MORNING.

I am aware this is supposed to be a cultural and culinary blog but sometimes it's good to share a bit of your spiritual journey along the way.

Mac says to tell you all "THUMBS UP TO JOY but especially THUMBS UP TO HOPE!"