We are in a season of transition here in Colorado. That awkward space between winter and spring. The people who keep track of such things tell us that Colorado sees 300 days of sunshine annually. Three hundred! Yet those of us who live here know that, even with the sun, we are not to be fooled by the Fake Spring that often arrives in April. Fake Spring lures us into a false sense of joy that the snow is gone and the 70’s are here to stay. Fake Spring tries to convince us that the delightful scents of summer that Bath & Body Works has laden their shelves with are a dependable marker of the arrival of a new season.
Then we open the drapes one morning to find snow on the ground. Again.
None of us could flip the calendar fast enough from 2020 to 2021. On December 31, 2020 you could practically hear the rush of air as we ripped that old calendar down and gleefully replaced it with our shiny new 2021 grid of daily promise. We were ready for familiar activities and a sense of normalcy…as we once knew it…to return. And were ready to give it a grand parade! Seasons, however, never arrive on a dime. Instead, they leisurely amble into existence with frequent circles back into the previous season. As if they can’t quite make up their minds.
I have been so very ready to get back to normal, but this deeply anticipated new season seems to be circling back into the old one a few too many ways. While many of us are back in the office more frequently, things still seem to be operating differently than before. Where we once had stamina to push through, we may now find ourselves still weary. Some of us are experiencing frustrations of things taking longer than normal – similar to what we saw back in March of 2020 – as we adjust to a familiar work environment in new ways. The season of normal simply is not snapping into place as readily as we thought it would.
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart;
yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
So here I sit with the Lord. My 2021 grid of daily promise in one hand and the desire to match my step with His in the other – my thoughts held up to His thoughts – my ways set next to His ways – and I let that Fake Spring fall to the ground. Sure, I’m excited about the idea of returning to normal but the honest truth is that there are several pieces of that old normal that simply do not need to return. Rather than anticipate an old thing returning within my timeline, I need to shift my gaze to the joy of the new gift He has waiting for me in His perfect time! I can trust Him to make everything beautiful in its time. Even if it comes a little later and looks differently than I’d prefer – because His gifts are always a custom fit.
Will you join me in appreciating the beauty of the day; brilliantly colored leaves, sparkling snow, dancing flowers, or warm sunshine? As seasons meander into our lives, He has special and unique gifts for us to enjoy at His leisurely pace. Will you embrace His perfect timing with me? Gifts are meant to be enjoyed, not rushed through. And each one, from beginning to end, is a gentle whisper that…
You are adored.
You Are Adored 