Flash Flood

Gracious God,

When Spring rains are soft and the grass grows green, change is celebrated.

But not all rains are light. Some are harsh and heavy and cold.

And though we hated the cold hands and arms of winter’s embrace it is hard to cheer for rushing waters that wash away the hard work and good soil and flood the homes and streets once safe and quiet beneath the snowy sleep.

For change, both expected and unexpected; change hoped for and change undesired

Give us strength to manage, hope for restoration, and the joy of new life and same life awakening fresh to warmer suns and brighter days.

May the sunlight and the rain be reminders that God is at work renewing the earth. As a God of renewal, You are ever working in our lives, too.

So, open our eyes and lives to the necessary, unwanted, overwhelming, beauty bringing changes in our lives.

We are wide awake, walking in the rain, ready for whatever will fall from heaven for us.

Amen.

spring rain

Seasons

It isn’t as if the world had slipped out of God’s hands.

Sometimes what we react to is the sense that our hands have slipped off the wheel.

 

But we believe in history.

The world is not a roll of the dice

On its way toward chaos.

A new world is always emerging

Spring to Summer to Fall to Winter to Spring again.

 

A God who knows sorrow and pain

A God who knows what it is to have enemies and soul bonded friends

Hate failed when

You become the definitive smile for humankind.

 

We accept the struggles and challenges.

 

We march on in the moment mindful that we are exploring the future with every passing minute. And that we do not go on this journey alone.

You are with us. You are eternal.

 

Beyond the crushing of the day’s gravity,

There is the shout of victory when the sun goes down and we are still standing up!

 

So teach us to give voice

To our new life always emerging

Because the tears of stress

And the fear of the unknown will disappear

Like seasons that pass.

 

Like we are in the changing seasons,

You are in our changing lives

 

Ever present.

Amen.mountains in four seasons