Tents

This week I attended the funeral of a friend of mine. She was just a few years older than I am, which always makes you start reminiscing. From my own experience, and others who have told me, your body starts creaking, snapping, popping, and your metabolism seems to all but stop working. The body I once had has rearranged itself, and I sometimes don't even recognize it. You are probably wondering where I am going with this! (grinning) Back to the funeral--the pastor referenced 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  That tent expands and contracts through the years. It gets wind blown, rained and snowed on. The tent's original fabric gets tattered, dry, torn, patched up, it shrinks and gets threadbare, and sometimes it just collapses. The rigging needs reinforcement and some parts need to be replaced. Would you rather live in a tent or a permanent home?

Our earthly bodies are the tents in which our soul live. Our bodies grow from the time we are born until we are in our early twenties. Sometimes our bodies grow because we are gaining weight, having a baby, or taking a medication. Other times, our bodies shrink from weight loss, chemo, or just plain getting older. We weather storms in our lives-sickness, death of a family member or friend, wayward children, loss of jobs, divorce-but we make it through. Just like a tent, we may have to be patched because of bodily injury. We may need new hips or knees, or have to have back surgery, or even deal with amputation. We may feel so tired that it seems we can't take another step, threadbare. Our skin eventually gets dry and wrinkly, and shows scars. Sometimes our scars don't show. There are times that we simply want to give up, collapse. 

We have to keep in mind that our earthly tents WILL be destroyed. We will die, and our souls will be set free to live in an eternal house in Heaven. We won't hurt, crack, pop, be tired, or feel like collapsing. I will get a permanent home. Praise God for giving us a hope and a future!

Seasons

You just never know what to expect in the Texas Panhandle as far as weather goes. I always get antsy about springtime. The grass greens, the trees bud out, and I get flower fever. However, I usually try to wait until at least after Easter or even Mother's Day to plant flowers. It's a good thing I waited this year. Just when I thought we were past the worst of winter, we had a hard freeze and a snow in April! Our trees already had beautiful leaves, and now the leaves are brown on the edges and a little yellow in hue. Many of them have fallen off in the ferocious spring wind.
As I looked at and fretted over the trees, it occurred to me there was a correlation between seasons of our lives and nature's seasons. There are times when we feel comfortable, warm, and like we are blossoming. We get complacent and feel invincible. We feel in control. Then, BOOM, something dark and cold hits us like a freeze in nature. We curl up like the leaves on the trees. Some of us stay curled up for a very long time, some just give up and fall into a deep depression just as the leaves are blown from the trees, helter skelter with no direction. Others decide to hang on for dear life, seeking strength from the fragile stems clinging to the branches. We search for answers, pray, plead, and seek advice and consolation from those we consider to be oaks, strong and steadfast. The sun shines on the leaves, causing them to surge with new life and urges them to continue with the business of photosynthesis bringing oxygen to our lungs. The Son shines on us, reviving us and gently prodding us to get on with the business of taking care of our families and jobs. We can breathe deeply and feel new life and hope surging through our veins. God is always there, during the bitter cold, the sweltering heat, and the comfortable temperatures. It reminds me that we have to have the extremes to appreciate the calm even more.

To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.

ecclesiastes 3:1-8