Happy snowy Sunday!
Facebook shared this photo with me this morning. This is what Bill and I were doing two years ago today.
Yes, were were out on our tandem in 71-degree sunny weather. On February 17, 2017. My heart about leaped out of my chest when I saw it.
What a difference two years makes.
Today we hit a whopping 29 degrees as white flakes of all sizes have been falling from the sky since before we woke. Yes. All. Day. Long. They have a mesmerizing affect on me as I’ve watched them gently fall. It’s a good thing we’re snowed in today, because I haven’t accomplished very much. I continue to be drawn to our windows.
Yes, the gently falling snow is pretty, but I can’t stop thinking about two years ago. On our tandem. In shorts. Soaking up some strange warm Iowa weather in February.
You know? I long for those warmer days. Maybe you do, too. February is over half over. Spring is just around the corner. The ground hog didn’t see his shadow. It won’t be long now, right?
Warmer days are coming. Hang on.
Kind of like in life. Warmer days are coming, too. I mean, for those of us who seem to receive one blow after another, one bad report after another, or one snow storm after another, we can trust warmer days are ahead. We’ve had a long streak of non-stop, crippling cold days. Not only in the weather, however, but also in our lives.
Couldn’t we use a dose of hope right about now? I’m reminded of one of my favorite hope-filled passages. It’s in Lamentations.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Lamentations 3:21-23 NIV
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Even though it’s thought the prophet Jeremiah wrote these words in 585 or 586 BC, we can claim them for our lives yet today.
Another translation says it like this:
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
Lamentations 3:21-24 NLT
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
It’s a timely dose of hope.
Oh, friend, how I find encouragement in these verses! We have hope! God is faithful. His mercies (His compassion, kindness, forgiveness, tenderness, blessings, grace) are afresh for us each morning. We get a new dose of His mercies every single day! They never end!
No matter what we do or don’t do. No matter what happened today or yesterday. With whatever we are going through. God is faithful. And, thank the Lord His mercies for me don’t depend on me, because, well, that just wouldn’t be so promising.
Whatever you and I are struggling with today, friend, we can trust God has a fresh start for us tomorrow. His mercies for tomorrow will be waiting for us when we wake. And the best part? There’s not one thing we need to do to earn them.
Just like with the weather, warmer days are coming. Hang on. They’ll be here soon.
Great is His faithfulness!
Love this Julie! Such encouragement! And now I’ll have that wonderful hymn “Great is His Faithfulness” running through my mind which is so much better than my normal whining and worrying!
Thanks, Cindy! You’re funny. But, I love that hymn! I’m singing it now, too!