Spring Is Coming?

       It is 25 degrees out, not cold by recent standards (below zero) but still winter weather.  We are on the watch for our own winter storm tomorrow night even as a huge winter storm is threatening the East coast with feet of snow.  And yet, there are signs that spring is coming (as hard as it is to believe when my feet are cold).
       For one thing as I look at my calendar, the church season of Lent begins next week with Ash Wednesday, moving us toward Easter.  The days are getting longer and the angle of the sun is changing; I can tell by the quality of the sun coming in my window.  I got a seed catalogue in the mail a couple of weeks ago.  
       My husband, the pastor/farmer, took it gleefully and hungrily, spending the evening practically drooling over the pages, coveting the vegetables and fruits that were pictured.  His comment?  "I'm going to have to get a bigger garden."
       I know that a lot of winter can still be coming at us both in terms of cold and blustery days and in the amount of snow.  In fact, I've been praying for snow.  We actually need it so that there is a good amount to melt slowly into the water table and help restore the land from the drought conditions that have hit all over the Great Plains.  This is northern Minnesota after all, winter usually lasts for a couple of months more.  Up here, if the ground hog saw its' shadow and there were six more weeks of winter, that would be an early spring!
       So with so much winter yet on the way, why am I looking toward spring?
       It is about the power of looking forward with hope.
       If we only look at yesterday and today, we can get caught by how cold it has been, how dark the days have been, the ice, the snow, the bad days and hard times and how much effort it takes to even get dressed to go outside.  Like my husband said the other day, he wants to be able to go outside without having to put on boots, zipped up coat, hat, scarf, and gloves.  How easy it would be to just throw on jeans and a t-shirt and wiggle into some flip-flops and go out the door!
       But being aware of the small changes gives me hope and points me forward.  In fact, this has become part of my spiritual discipline.  I find that when I am not aware of the changes in weather, the length of the days, and the cycles of growth around me, I am also running on empty spiritually.  It often means that I have become so busy or caught up in myself and my worries, that hope and joy are very far away.
       A friend sent me a quote this week: "Do not be afraid of tomorrow, for God is already there."
       Living in faith is living in hope and leaning forward.  As a child of God, grace has already been given to us.  We - you - are already forgiven.  What we have done in the past, what has been done to us, is already taken care of and while it may still cast a shadow over today, now and then, faithful living proclaims that victory, new life, is already ours.
       "And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us... But God proves God's love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us."  Romans 5:3-5,8