Simply Sunday -- Lamentations 3:25-26 (NIV)

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait

quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

~~ Lamentations 3:25-26 (NIV)

Moment's Reflection:

The sign in the above photo could spell "no hope" for most people.  Yet over the past six days we have watched as my husband's brother was taken to ER and then hospitalized, and ultimately transferred to a nursing facility. The words "nursing home" could have caused us to feel beyond hope.

Do we give up hope simply because life has changed for Bob's brother and his wife?  Not at all!  Hope still abides if we only believe in our Lord.  These verses confirm that promise.  Our hope has only changed:  instead of prayers for healing we now pray for comfortable days and good care, instead of seeing our brother struggle to walk we see him confined to a wheelchair, instead of continuing to be in his home he has been moved to a different home.  These things have changed.  Our hope still rests in the Lord to comfort all of us as transitions and changes settle in.

Prayer:

Father, we ask that you continue to watch over our family and especially our brother.  Help him maintain that sense of calm we saw yesterday when we had to come home.  Let him know that you are sitting beside him each and every day.  Please keep your hand on his caregivers that their touch and care will be compassionate and loving.  In the name of your Son, I pray.

Sharing with Diedra at
 

Visiting Barbie at Fresh Brewed Sundays

 

 

Photo credit:  Jodi Green

Where, Oh Where Is Spring?

April Rain Song
By Langston Hughes

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain makes running pools in the gutter.

The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night—

And I love the rain.

 

~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday was the first day of spring.  Today in Portland the high was 39.
Those "silver liquid drops" Langston Hughes refers to in his poem,
April Rain Song, were falling all around. 

 

Three hours away in Eugene there was seven inches of snow.  Surrounding areas had
varying amounts.  Snow this near the end of March is unusual.

And still the daffodils and primroses are blooming, perhaps bending their heads low in
the rain and cold.  Such brilliant spots of color in the dark, cold, gray days. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other parts of the country are enjoying spring and summer weather.  The Pacific NW is still waiting.  How amazing that God has planned and planted this earth and the seasons.
No matter that things get off schedule.  

In the end, it will work out just as God planned.  I don't mind waiting.

 

Langston Hughes, "April Rain Song" from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Reprinted with the permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.


Photo credits:
Top:  Examiner
Middle:  Register Guard
Bottom:  Flower Garden Bulbs