GRACE - the promise of spring

home sweet home.

currently i sit on a megabus bound for des moines. i have the best seat on the whole bus - top deck, front left, with a half-inch of glass separating me on two sides from the outdoors. the large window directly in front of me offers an incredible view of the unmatched iowa countryside.

to some this sight is an unimpressive mesh of nasty browns, struggling greens, and a not-so-bright blue sky. it's a barren land still dead from the wears of winter.

but not to me. i love it. i see beauty - pure, innocent beauty.

to me this land is a stunning mix of fields just starting to show patches of green life, contrasted by an endless, innocent, soft blue sky carrying wisps of subtle, white clouds, and a tender, cool breeze blowing the barely budding trees ever so gently. 

yes, this is my home. this is where i feel safe. this is where i love to be - in iowa. and i appreciate it now more than i ever have.

but what makes my perspective of this rather "boring" terrain different? why don't i see a hardly-alive land and a mix of dull colors?

maybe it’s because i’ve seen a city all year, and the grays, blacks, and browns get a bit boring, especially in the dead of winter.

maybe it’s because i’m delusional from 3 hours of restless sleep last night.

maybe it's because i know what these fields, trees, and skies will look like in just a few weeks - when the fields will be thriving, boasting sprouts of green promise for the season ahead and the blue skies shining brightly against the magnificent greens of the pockets of trees. 

or maybe it's because iowa is simply beautiful. 

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right now my life feels quite a bit like iowa looks to the average person: pretty bleak, fairly pale.

but i don’t see my life as ugly; i don’t see my life as hopeless. i see promising sprouts of life - i see that during this dreary winter my heart has been changed and God-planned growth is in the works. 

because Jesus Christ says,

“Behold, I am making all things new.”

beginning with my heart. i am a new creation. there is fulfilling life now and abundant life ahead. 

so i see beauty because i trust that spring is not far off - that summer might even be coming.

and, besides, without a dead winter, it’s nearly impossible to appreciate the magnificent beauty of a coming spring.