Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf of springtime.Martin Luther

I love this quote and the way it points out the miracles that surround us in any given day.  Nature is certainly one of God's most amazing creations with beauty overflowing every day, in every direction, regardless of the season.  With spring approaching, we always look forward to the new buds, the brown shades turning to grasshopper green, and the promise of warmth and new growth.... new beginnings. 

We may be living in the winter of our lives right now, but God promises us a fresh spring for those of us who believe.  I don't know what Heaven will be like, but sometimes I visualize a kind of Garden of Eden, surrounded by God's warmth and tender loving care.  Whatever it may actually be like, I know it will be perfect beyond my imagination!

“If you believe that the Son of God died and rose again,” writes George MacDonald, “your whole future is full of the dawn of eternal morning, coming up beyond the hills of life, and full of such hope as the highest imagination for the poet has not a glimmer yet.”


I love this quote..... How true!

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
(John 16:20)

Such a difference between the Good Friday church services and the Easter morning church services. I'm always grateful that I know the "rest of the story," as I attend the very somber Friday services, acknowledging and reliving Jesus' crucifixion. The apostles should also have known the end of the story, but they continued to have their doubts, and therefore, their agonizing grief was inevitable. I'm certainly not trying to judge them. I wasn't there and would probably have been just as confused and doubtful as they were. Imagine the joy they would have experienced when Jesus appeared before them after His resurrection and it all became clear to them....all the prophesies, the parables, and the teachings that Jesus had given them would finally make sense.

Today, and everyday, I am humbled and grateful for second chances, for new beginnings, and for a forgiving Lord who loves an unlovable me.