God is Faithful

Last year, we spent a lot of time putting life together inside our house. It was a mess. To be fair, it took a lot of work and energy. With my husband being a mess and me being sick, we did little more than mow outside. I had a garden, but it was skimpy at best and not well kept.

You can imagine the mess we had outside if there was a chicken carcass in the cabinet and panties in the freezer inside. There was so much trash in the yard. The flower beds were a disaster. We did manage to pick up the trash last year but lived with awful landscaping.

This year we started tackling the landscaping as soon as it looked possible. We started with the flowerbed that wraps around our porch and house in front. We filled in the giant gaps with perennials. I now have pink, orange and yellow roses. We have lavender, carnations and lambs ear with decorative grass at the very end. We filled it with black mulch and added solar lights. We will have to weed and maintain it, but shouldn't have to plant anything for several years.

We didn't stop there. We added creeping phlox and a bush to the garage side. I've filled pots with herbs and flowers. We've put our house plants on the deck. For the first time ever, I have been able to buy and hang beautiful, huge baskets of flowers. We have two huge pots hanging on the deck. we have a hummingbird feeder for the many varieties of birds we have come through during the spring and summer.

Our garden got planted this weekend too. Tomatoes, peas, beans, carrots, asparagus, herbs and three kinds of onions. We have been busy on the yard, most definitely. We've both already gotten sunburned. The trees aren't quite full yet, but they are finally coming.

Things are new and fresh. We had a long, cold winter. Everything died and all signs of life were brown and gray. I think that's why I love snow so much. It covers the dead things and makes them look pretty and pure.

Of course throughout the entire weekend, my friend with cancer was on my heavy on my heart. Last week, I was told to pray that she have a few days at home with her family. So I did. I shared that request with others. We all wanted her to have her hearts desire. She got to go home on Thursday and was still there as of today.

She is weak. I'm not sure about her pain level. Each day that I find out she is still at home, I rejoice. It seemed like too simple of a request, but too big to achieve. I am thankful that she has gotten this time with her family. Most of us knowing are preparing for what happens when she can no longer be at home.

As I sat in church today, I found it hard to focus on the sermon because I was focused on the cross. The cross is a constant reminder of the biggest promise the Lord ever made to us. He promised us salvation through the work of Jesus on the cross. That's a big one and one that we rarely forget. But, God made other promises too. He didn't just make promises, He stays faithful in them...over and over and over and over.

In the Bible, we can find all His promises. In Philippians 4:19, He promises to take care of us. In Romans 8:37-39, He promises that nothing can separate us from His love. In Matthew 11:28-29, He promises us rest and to carry our burdens.

He also promises restoration. In Joel 2:25-26, He says He will restore all the years that the locust have eaten.

He promises in Mark 11:24 that He answers prayers for believers.

I thought through all of these.

The winter comes and kills everything that is beautiful. Spring brings warmer weather, rain and a restoration of what has been dead. We know we can count on it because He never fails us. I suppose there are areas that are too cold or too hot to see this kind of renewal. But, we do get to see it and I am so happy about that.

As we were working outside this weekend, I found myself feeling guilty. I'm likely going to cover this later, so I won't dwell on it much. My friend was laying on her couch dying while I enjoyed God's faithfulness in the restoration spring brings.

While I was thinking through all the ways God shows His faithfulness, I had to remind myself that she is experiencing God's faithfulness in other ways right now. He has promised to answer prayers and He has by giving her time at home. He has promised to take care of us and He is by giving her what she needs when the doctors can do no more. He is giving her hope in eternal life by what Jesus did on the cross.

My flesh leads me to be sad for all that is not right now. However, my heart knows that I can rejoice. I can rejoice because of the Lord's faithfulness in His promises.