It’s almost summer!

I always love when May arrives.

Not just because it’s when we celebrate Mother’s Day or that it’s my birthday month, although I do love that:)—but I love it because it sits right on the precipice of summer. It’s like it’s the month of announcement—the one that’s shouting, “Summer’s coming!” It’s the beginning days of our reward for navigating a long, dark winter and it brings with it, the promise of sunshine with a fresh and different kind of beauty. One that is filled with more light, more color, and usually more sunshine than the preceding months have held.

We get to take walks without our jackets and sometimes even wear shorts!

Here we are, mid May——in shorts!! Please forgive those pasty white legs:)

May is also when trees are budding, grass is greening up and beautiful flowers get planted… and we start having tiny moments that begin to turn into regular times of sitting outside in the ever warming sunshine.

Glory!

Speaking of planting flowers….I LOVE this process. I love everything about it! I love the creativity of choosing which ones go nicely with each other, what kinds of greens to put with the flowers and deciding how many I can cram into each pot. I even love that my hands get dirty as I do it…it reminds me that I’ve been given the task of co-creating, literally fashioning and forming those flowers into their lovely new homes for the summer.

In fact, here’s a few that I’ve already planted…

Aren’t they pretty??!!

I also love knowing that as time goes on and summer sun and morning dew drips over the petals and leaves of those plants, they bloom.

They grow.

They flourish. (If we remember to water them and the deer don’t eat them for dessert:)

They expand and become what they were designed to become. They simply are what they were meant to be and their loveliness brings me great pleasure.

Honestly, as I was pondering this while I was planting those flowers, I thought about how this is a picture of what happens to us when we abide in the vine. (John 15) And, I smile with the reminder. After the long, dark days, I need this reminder that as I place myself in the presence of the One who designed me and loves me, I become more and more of all that He’s created me to be.  I’m reminded that if I will choose courage and show up, and remain, I will grow….I will flourish and I will become all He has in mind for me. I will learn to rest and in new ways and bask in the always true love He has for me.

That sounds so nice, so clean, doesn’t it?……and yet it’s not that easy, is it? It’s simple, but make no mistake, it’s not always easy.

It’s messier than that.

But just because it’s messy, doesn’t mean its not worth it. Life’s gonna be messy either way, whether we do it alone, or respond to the pursuer of our hearts, and I haven’t talked to one person who doesn’t want to experience all that they were made for. To live this life to the full.

So, I wonder why is it that we resist this invitation to come away with Him? Why do we sometimes choose to float around, haphazardly living, or even hiding, as opposed to living with intention. Well, sin did that….we’ve been tainted and we run the risk of believing that we must earn God’s love, or hide when we know we don’t deserve it. But what if we decided to deliberately remind ourselves that there is a God who loves us and longs for our presence and actually is delighted when we go there with Him. What if we even set a reminder on our phone for this appointment. A moment each day to turn our hearts and our thoughts toward Jesus. I wonder how it might impact our moments and our days?

Even as I type this, I’m hit afresh by the reality ——that God actually desires our presence! The wonder in the reality that He longs to hang out with you, and with me. And I remind myself that it’s true! In fact, the entire Bible is a reminder of this message, over and over again, starting with the first chapter!

At the beginning of this month, I made my way up north to help one of my kids and their family move into their new home. It was so full of fun and excitement and lots of work and honestly just pleasure for me— I absolutely LOVED being invited into their sacred space. The place that they now call home. And while I was there, I was also able to spend some time with each of my other kids and most of my grand babes, and honestly as I experienced this time with them, I felt tremendous love and enjoyment. My heart almost hurts from the breadth of its expansion. I’m not kidding——my heart was nearly bursting from the love that I felt from simply being with them.Hearing their voices, looking in their eyes, listening to all that’s happening with each of them. I literally want to eat them up…especially those babies!

And here’s the cool part… that’s just a glimpse of the love that God feels for you—-for me. He is exceedingly delighted when we spend time together.

Is that new for you to think about? Is it hard to believe His love could be that great for you?

Oftentimes I think we know ourselves too well and think that because we are broken, fractured, sinful people, God must have a hard time loving us. Like, we “know”, in our heads that He does, but in our hearts we feel like it might only be true because He says He does——not because He really wants to.

I know this because I lived in this space for a long time—-in disbelief that it could actually be true! But this is a poor description of our God. It’s limited and skewed. And absolutely contrary to His character. And after lots and lots of counseling and work around the younger parts of me that had been deeply wounded, I’ve actually able to take in this truth more deeply, not simply in my mind, but to the deeper recesses of my soul.

You see, our God, the God of the Bible, doesn’t just love, HE IS LOVE!! 1 John 4:8b

It’s not something He does, it’s the very essence of who He IS. Right this very moment God is pulsating love for you…for me!

Stop for just a moment and take that in.

Close your eyes and receive that.

Whisper to yourself now, “God is absolutely in love with me”.

I’m rereading a book called Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes and there’s a portion of the book that speaks so clearly to this very idea of God’s love….it goes like this,

“God is the pursuer of your heart, Lucy,” Dad had said. “He is coming, and coming, and coming after you. In every summer sunset, in every snatch of birdsong. In everything that stirs deep into you and makes you hungry for bigger things, eternal things. That is Him, pursuing you with tenderest grace. In the places so hard they wring your soul. In the places so beautiful they steal your breath. He is there, filling your soul, giving you breath.”

Isn’t that beautiful?!! Our God, is the creator and pursuer of our hearts, in all the things life brings. The good. The hard. The ordinary. The boring. The things that feel like we might never recover from. The take your breath away moments and the mundane. He is right there, Immanuel——God with us—-God with you!

So, just like May is shouting, “Summer’s coming!”, He too beckons us to watch for Him everywhere and notice His presence in this season— from the warm of the sunshine, to the fear of what lies ahead, and everything in between, His tenderest grace is wooing us to slow down, pay attention, stay curious, and worship the One who is holding all things together.

Happy May to you———Summer’s coming!

Peace!