New Life Now Beginning

Happy March everyone! It's a new day, a new week, and a new month. So hard to believe it came so fast, but here it is. And Spring is hovering in the air. It's always been one of my favorite seasons- coming forth right after the long hard winters of snow and ice. The trees and plants that were once frozen in death come alive with the washing of new water and the healing warmth of the sun. The empty and frozen stick-like branches burst forth with blossoms and the birds start singing a brand new song never-before sung.

I didn't know if Spring would happen here- in this dry land full of polluted air and busy streets. There is hardly any green to begin with, and certainly no snow to melt away. There are none of the usual indicators- no groundhog to see his shadow, or to not see his shadow... No drastic temperature change. But still, I see evidence of a Spring that is coming. I see it on my way walking to and from work, when I pass the beautiful blossoming trees I never noticed in previous months here. I see it in the bright reds and pinks and purples and oranges of the boogumvillia flowers. I see it as I watch these two tiny street puppies I pass on my walk to work every day grow a little bit stronger. I see it when a Daddy passes by me- out walking with his dark, curly headed boy sitting upon his shoulders. Spring is about life and new beginnings. And though I don't see the usual physical evidences of the season here in Cairo, Egypt, I see the deeper evidences of it.

Just this past weekend I had the privilege of seeing Springtime in the hearts of a bunch of young MCC middle schoolers. 26 kids, (only 8 of them girls), all just reaching the age where they are starting to form their ideas and beliefs about life and important spiritual matters. They came to have fun, and we did! They wore me out with all their energy! :) But they also came and, I believe, were met by a Holy Father. One who intended to teach them about living as a part of the body of His Son. They learned about how to build one another up and how to encourage one another to walk the right paths. They learned about the need to confront problems in truth and love. And how to live as a TRUE family. I cannot say how each one was affected, but I know that our Holy Friend was moving throughout the weekend. He is doing something NEW, And I trust that He will finish the work that He has begun in each and every one of these 26 kids (Ph. 1:6).

And I see the evidence of His Springtime in my own heart. The last few months have been a rough road of heartache, grief, and loneliness. It has seemed in a way like the winter months that drag on for all eternity. But I am entering a new season now, and as some of the ice melts away, I am starting to see the evidence of what has been growing underneath the surface all along. He's working in me. He's changing me. He's cleansing me.

You see, I believe that my Dad is all about new beginnings. It's like His very heart beats for redemption. He LOVES to redeem. He LOVES to make new. He LOVES to breathe life into things that are dead! Why else do you think He gives us a new day every 24 hours? A new week every 7 days? A new month every 4 weeks? A new year every 12 months?? Opportunity after opportunity to begin again, to start fresh. And I have also found that the truest joy of Spring is dependent upon the long nights of Winter. Those cold, days are what produce in me a new life now beginning. For "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24) And "those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." (Psalm 126:5)