When I woke up to the winter wonderland outside I knew God wanted to show me more about spiritual seasons. After coming out of a very long and hard winter I am appreciating every insight He gives me. Today my Father pointed out the trees to me. He showed me the evergreens that have stayed green all winter long and showed me where I remain green - belief that He is God and is all powerful, ruling over all. Then He caught my attention with the dead tree outside my bedroom window showing me how many of my beliefs were tested during this winter - If He is so good why did I hurt so bad? Where was He in the midst of my pain? If He loved me why didn't He stop it? and Why did He let me come so close to the edge? I thought things looked pretty bad for the dead trees far outnumbered the evergreens. But then a picture of my favorite tree (the ones that are already blossoming with pink and white flowers) came to mind and He assured me that I too am blossoming for I now know that yes, He truly loves me. That no matter how close to the edge I came I was always tethered to Him, my Rock. That He was well aware of my pain as He cried with me and that He held me close even when I struggled to get away. He even showed me a tree outside my living room window that's just beginning to bud - how I'm learning to accept the person He created me to be and how I was made for this active achievement oriented society even though I'm out of step with it. Some of my trees are still dormant but He assures me that these too will bud at their appointed time - how to use what I've learned to edify others. Some trees didn't survive the winter for they were not rooted in truth - "if I do ___ then God will have to do ___" for He will not be manipulated. And finally there are more trees being planted for there is more to learn about Him and about myself, new ways to experience His love, and more ways to express my love.
Oh, how I pray that through the spring, summer, and fall that these trees (truths) will sink their roots down deep into my heart that next winter there will be more evergreens for my Lord.
Up until last night I thought I had pretty much encountered the typical parenting experiences. That all changed when we let Rachel have five girlfriends spend the night as a spring break treat. That means we had SIX pre-teen emotionally volatile girls in a 1500 sq foot mobile home. OK everyone can stop laughing now! At one point early into the evening one girl got her feelings hurt ending up in the bathroom with Rachel trying to calm her down and another girl (who had only been here 30 minutes) eating her pizza. After a couple of minutes the situation was under control and the one girl assures me that the pizza tastes the same in the kitchen or bathroom (just in case anyone was wondering). By this time Dan and I had retreated (hid) in our bedroom. There was peace in the house for 30 minutes at most when I noticed Rachel going back and forth to her room. Come to find out another girl was mad because they stopped playing a game and while everyone else moved on to another activity she was pouting in Rachel's room with another girl trying to cheer her up. I didn't even get involved in that one and it worked itself out after a few minutes. The girls finally settled down to movies and popcorn for the night. I wanted to stay up until all were asleep as one of the girls was known for getting homesick in the middle of the night. They all passed out by 1:45am and I was able to finally go to sleep. Stephen had me up by 8:00am to go get donuts at Safeway. After getting 
them all wired on sugar the girls are outside playing in the van and my house is somewhat quiet. I just have to make it till 3:00pm when I'll drive three home. Alas two of them live in the park and one lives in my house so not everyone will be leaving ;) I have heard it said that boys are more work when young and girls are more work when older. God give me strength and wisdom for the years ahead!
