Photo by Sonia Nadales on Unsplash
Springtime
People sing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” during the Christmas season, but I think spring is the most wonderful time of the year. Apparently, some think the months of spring are March, April, and May, but I think spring is still April, May, and June. Nothing revelatory or scientific there. Just, as the old timers used to say before I became one of them, “I feel it in my bones.”
As I sit down to write today, we’ve had beautiful rains. Flowers are blooming like crazy. Hummingbirds are comfortably visiting their feeders, beautiful orange and black orioles are visiting their (and the hummingbirds’) feeders. The breeze is gentle and pleasant, and life is good. As I wrote in one of my first DOWN HOME ON THE FARM children’s books, “How could anyone not be happy in springtime?” (My apologies to my friends with allergies.)
Sweet Water
“A cup, brimful of sweet water, cannot spill even one drop of bitter water however suddenly jolted. ”
What spills forth from the mouth in time of trial might indeed indicate what lies within. This is one reason that in our times of stress or sudden impacts, people might see (or hear) a completely different person in action.
I’ve been involved with a group of ladies in a Ladies’ Bible Study on Tuesday mornings for about 10 years now. At first, we met a month at a time in one person’s house and then another. Since we started meeting by conference call on the phone (Remember COVID?) we decided it works well to continue to do so. (Feel free to join us!) One of the things we stress is that we must try to learn Bible verses. After all, the Psalmist tells us,
“Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee. ”
The more “sweet water” we put in our cups, the more likely we will spill forth sweetness even in times of trouble or shock.
There is a hymn we used to sing a few decades ago. The chorus was always meaningful to me, and especially in this joy-filled time of year. It went something like this.
(Click HERE to listen and/or sing along.)
“Fill my cup, Lord. I lift it up, Lord.
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up, and make me whole.”
On a beautiful day in June, why not take your Bible out to the hammock and concentrate on a passage or two? It won’t be time wasted. In the words of James,
“Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.””
Give it a shot!
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Strength and Redeemer.”
Oh, yes, by the way, You! Yes, you in the hammock! Happy Father’s Day!
Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash