Never gives up

Unseasonably warm weather in the northeast of Scotland. Despite all the redecorating jobs indoors, I dallied outside to clear away some of autumn’s dead leaves and branches. A noise broke through my thought-processes. The sound of many hooves, on the move. The occasional lowing as most of a herd of cows wandered up the road in search of food.

What do I know about herding cows? Enough to know that it’s harder than it looks.

By the time I reached the end of the drive, a farmer approached in his tractor. They weren’t his cows, but he knew whose they were. A few loud yells from him and the herd turned and headed back to where they belonged. The movement of his tractor kept them retracing their steps.

‘They’re hungry,’ he explained. ‘They’ve been left in the same field all winter and there’s no more to be eaten. They need to be moved.’

He expressed some frustration with the other farmer.

The steadfast love of the Lord shows itself in the unending mercies which come our way. He never leaves us in the desert without giving us food. Even during wintry seasons of life, he provides. We never need to break out in search of more.

And yet often we do. And the Lord’s grace and mercy ushers us back into safe territory where we can graze on his life-giving word.

I am profoundly grateful that he never gives up on me.

Last Roses of Summer

The last roses of summer share their intoxicating fragrance throughout the kitchen/living room. Big, ‘buxom beauties’, their magenta hue and sweet smell make these flowers the queens of my garden. Got them in just before the winter winds strike, forecast for this weekend.

I can’t protect everything that is precious and loved in my life. Husband, children, grandchildren, mother: they all have lives in the matrix of a turbulent and often hostile world, and I am not there with them ( – as if that would make all the difference!).

So I entrust them to God, who loves them all even more than I do. He died for each one. He has plans for each one, plans for good and not for evil. He knows every hair on each head. And he has the power and the will to bring each one through whatever valley they are in and up onto the mountain tops, where their perspective is unrestricted by giants that may threaten on the valley floor.

This morning I give God the glory, totally grateful to Jesus for what he did for us all and to the Holy Spirit who empowers, inspires and guides each of us now. Thank you Lord.

Seasons

Seasons.

It is a beautiful spring morning. Birds singing their sweet songs. Trees budding and blossoming. Grass growing. Sun shining out of a clear blue sky.

The change of season. Spring is a welcome change. Summer is a welcome change. Autumn, though beautiful, less welcome. And winter – well, I have to look beyond it to spring!

And so with life. Change. Growing old. Losing comprehension. Being frightened. Imagining things. Someone I love is entering that dark tunnel and it feels like winter is coming. 

I have to look beyond it to spring. So does she.

God’s faithful to his promises. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is always with us. He will be there to welcome us into his heavenly kingdom.

I am so grateful. Clinging on. Trusting. Trusting in our faithful God who loves us so much he died for us. Paul begged God to take away a severe trial, but Jesus said to him, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 

Leaning on my Saviour. Trusting in his grace.

Stunning

I’m sorry to keep harping on about this, but really, the winter landscape right now is breath-taking. We don’t very often get more than the odd day where the air is still and clear, the sun is out, the temp is well below freezing and the snow blankets field and forest, houses and dykes.

Today is a perfect winter day. I never really thought about there being such a thing. Now a perfect summer day is more my scene, but today was the cold-weather equivalent. Thank you, dear Lord, for eyes to see it and a heart to appreciate the gift it is. 

Again it draws my thoughts to human equivalents. I learned last night of the death of a dear friend in her 90’s, whose latter years looked like this perfect winter’s day. 

Pared down to skeletal frame, thin grey hair drawn back unattractively in a bun, yet her eyes continued to sparkle with love for Jesus. She shared with me for an hour recently about the revival in Stornoway in the 1950’s. It was a gift to listen to her, treasured moments I’ll always cherish.

Today she’s home with her Lord. But her going to him was like a perfect winter’s day – austerity overlaid with a soft covering of faith and love. The winter of her life was just stunning.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of knowing Nan.

Pruning the Blooms

Just in from pruning the roses. I feel like I betrayed them, as I cut off so many buds and blooms. But my gardening guru neighbour Mary advised a few weeks back that I needed to bed the garden down for winter, which meant pruning even if they were in bloom. They will be stronger and more beautiful next year, she assured me.

I hope she’s right. I do enjoy the roses – their intoxicating fragrance and regal beauty.

I have been pruned too, this week. There was an issue that needed a solution, and when it came in Scripture I was reading, the pruning was all mine. I’d been too immersed in the situation to recognise that I should, and could, take the first step.

And while I’d expected that pruning to hurt, in fact it felt freeing, releasing. God gave me the grace to let it go and feel completely unencumbered by it. 

Now, maybe I’m ready to bed down for winter, and pray for glorious blooms when the season comes round again!