Evergreen

I had the most amazing experience over the last couple of weeks to travel with my man to Breckenridge, Colorado.  Any time I have the opportunity to see different ways that our Creator has crafted creation quite honestly makes me giddy with joy!  As we drove our rental car from Denver on I-70 west towards Breckenridge, I quickly realized that there would be a theme in what my heart would gravitate toward the entire time we were there.  Everywhere I looked, all I could see were evergreens.  Evergreens on the mountain.  Evergreens draped with snow.  Evergreens bending in the weight of Winter.  Every day I thought about the evergreens, took pictures of them, and asked God what He wanted to teach me through them.  I look forward to sharing with you in the next few posts what God has taught me.

I come from the South where the seasons are pronounced and plentiful in variety of trees that make bold statements with each change.  We have evergreens in the South, but if I'm honest, they weren't my favorite (except for the smell), until now.  God gave me a new perspective of Himself through the evergreens that will forever change how I look at them.

Evergreens are constant, just like God.  No matter what the season, they are constant and green.  They are hardy through the seasons and don't sway in the winter.  They continue to grow even under the weight of snow and cold.  In comparison to other trees that bloom, fill with leaves, lose leaves, and then are dormant through winter, the evergreen isn't. The evergreen is just like God...EVER present, EVER constant.  God doesn't tire of being God.  He just is.  When I look at other trees, oftentimes in the winter I am unable to figure out what kind of tree it is when it's leaves and fruit are not present, but with the evergreen you always know because for the most part, it's unchanging, just like our God.

Many suffer from seasonal depression in the
winter.  So many things appear dead in the winter.  The evergreen is an exception.  As we hiked, the evergreens were a shield and comfort from the howling winds of the cold, just like our God.  If I were alone, cold and needed shelter in the winter, I would take refuge under the comfort of a evergreen, not an oak.  The evergreen is a protector, just like Jesus.  It is vibrant with LIFE, just like Jesus.

I am thankful for the diversity of our God and how He is our constancy when seasons seem lonely, dark or even lifeless.  He is LIFE and life abundant.  So thankful for the evergreen, but most of all for Jesus.

Sun and Shadows

2011 has been a year of great change at the Bivins house.  Change is hard, no matter if you're ready for it or not, but I know that God has been at the forefront of all it, guiding, steering, and showing us the next steps to take.  The steps have been uncertain, wobbly, and often painful, but the joys, affirmation, and encouragement to move forward, equally as exhilarating.

This season has been a mixture of sun, clouds, and shadows.
There have been times in this journey that all I could see surrounding me were clouds.  You know those days when it's been raining, and the clouds just seem to linger and linger?  You know in your heart that the faithful sun (Son) is high above the clouds, but for this season, the clouds just have to cover?  Sometimes the clouds produce a cleansing rain, and one that readies the soil (soul) for new growth, fresh beauty, and new flowers.  Other times the clouds produce a storm with beating hail, torrential downpours, and damaging winds.  I have felt all of this from the clouds that have hovered in this season, but have constantly been reassured that the sun (Son) would eventually, in it's timing, part the clouds and reveal the glory and the splendor again.

(My sweet cardinal (Jesus) is chirping loudly outside as I type this...sweet affirmation)

As God settles us more and more into the calling that He has ordained, and the more my heart surrenders fully into the magnitude of what He has called, He has allowed the clouds to move on, to break apart, so that His bright light, that shows clearly the way, that warms the soul, that grows the seeds planted, can do what only it can do.

I am thanking God for the sun (Son)!  I know that for sustained growth, the clouds and the rain have to come again, but somehow know that the sun (Son) is above it all gives the strength and the stamina to walk forward in His confidence.