Welcome to the first week of “Faith. Hope. Love.” I envision this column as a weekly thing. The purpose is to share places, people, situations, etc. where I have witnessed or experienced faith, hope, and love in the week before. Maybe it sounds hokey. But, I know that it’s very easy to fall into a “poor, pitiful me” kind of attitude that can cloud our perception of the world around us (especially when it’s snowing on the 30th of MARCH!!!). I’m as guilty of this as anybody. That said, I am convinced that choosing to look for and expecting to see God in daily living not only changes the way we interact with the world around us but helps strengthen our relationship our Creator. I don’t know about you, but I could use a little more of those things in my life. So, without further ado: Faith. Hope. Love.
Faith
This week, I’ve been wearing a little gold cross necklace that my grandfather and uncle gave to me when I graduated from college. I don’t wear it very often, but it is made of yellow gold and coordinates nicely with my favorite pair of yellow gold earrings. Janie (my youngest daughter) is always fascinated by my necklaces. At 19 months old, she knows the word “necklace” and associates it with the word “gentle.” One day this week, I was holding her in my lap and she was carefully admiring my necklace saying, “gentah…neck-as…booful” (gentle…necklace…beautiful) when she pulled back abruptly and said, “Church?” At first I didn’t understand what she was getting at, but then I realized that she recognized the cross on my necklace as something that we see at church. I told her it was a cross, and she repeated the word back to me, “coss…”
While she may still be too young to understand the significance of the cross of Christ, much less why I or anyone would choose to wear that symbol around our necks, she is plenty old enough to associate the symbol with the church: a place Jane dearly loves to be. At 19 months, the Holy Spirit is already at work in the life of this little one, filling her with the gift of faith.
Hope
2014 may go down in history as “The Year of the Neverending Winter.” Here it is, March 30, and in parts of our state, friends of mine have nearly two inches of freshly-fallen snow on the ground. Hello? Spring? Are you out there? And yet, in spite of the frozen precipitation that just won’t quit, have I have seen so many signs this week that Spring is just around the corner. Dare I say that I have hope that one day soon the warm days of spring will be here to stay, the grass will green up, flowers will start blooming, and the world will once again be lush and alive? There are earthworms. Everywhere. No doubt, they have been urged out of the ground by the rain we’ve experienced the last couple of days. But, darn it! Those little guys give me hope that the earth is getting ready for things to begin growing once again. Hope! There is a reddish tint to many of the trees in our area, a sign that trees will soon begin to bloom. Hope! Birds are chirping and singing happy songs early in the morning. Hope! It’s (almost) April! Hope!
All of these things point to signs of new life in the world around us, reminding me of God’s resurrection promises. But, seeing as it’s snowing on the 30th of March in the mid-Atlantic region, it would seem that the future glory of Springtime has yet to be fully revealed. Simply having hope in God’s promises is going to have to suffice for now. 🙂
Love
This morning, my husband and kids and I were all getting ready to leave the house at the same time. My husband and the girls were headed to church, while I was headed to one of my part-time jobs. As I was getting into my car, I heard Audrey call out to me from my husband’s car which was parked next to mine. “Have a good day at work, Mommy!” she called. “Don’t forget to catch raindrops on your tongue!” What more can I say? She is so little, and so innocent, and so loving. And I am so blessed to be her mom.
MsPastorMom 