Springtime & Nostalgia

Springtime. Oh the wondrous time of year when beautiful flowers bloom and everyone starts sneezing and schnorting (yes, schnorting is a word. Go look it up in the Madison dictionary) But honestly, I couldn't be more delighted that spring is here. Shorts and t-shirts are my kinda clothes. Slip on some flip flops and it's time to roll. Not to mention springtime seems to be a very romantic-ish time of year. Not "romantic" like weddings and love and all that mushy stuff, but romantic as in "Anne of Green Gables romantic." Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. I love the quietness and beauty of spring... David describes in well in Psalm 19, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork." The universe declares God's glory. Every single flower declares God's glory, every new leaf declares God's glory... His creation is truly amazing. I love the way Charles Dickens describes spring: "It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." Spring is really one of the most beautiful times of the year - it's filled with new life. (including the lives of roaches and spiders and stinging insects, which quite honestly, I could do without) As it says (rather poetically, of course) in Song of Solomon chapter 2, "For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens it's figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance." I believe winter is really over... spring is coming.

Feel the sun on your skin, growing strong and warm again. Watch the ground: there's something moving, something is breaking through, new life is breaking through

Spring is coming
~Steven Curtis Chapman, Spring is Coming

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
~Anne Bradstreet

We all have a little nostalgia from time to time. But I think I tend to have it worse than some people sometimes. For instance.... I'm already feeling nostalgic about high school. And I'm not even out of my sophomore year. Pretty pitiful, I have to admit. Who feels nostalgic about the future? ~raises hand pitifully~
But really, high school is going by so fast. It feels like just yesterday I was the dorky freshman who was trying to be cool, but failed miserably by having dorky glasses, greasy hair, and braces. And now I'm nearly at the end of my sophomore year, and soon I'll be an upperclassman. Scary, much! The quicker life goes by, the tighter I seem to hold on to where I am now. I know that high school will be some of the best times of my life, and I don't want to let them go. I know that God has some awesome things planned for me in the future (I mean, they have to be great, right? If someone plans your life at the beginning of the world... well, you know it's pretty well planned out). I don't know what they are. They could be really tough things, they could be exciting things... they could be both. Which is what scares me. Which is why, of course, I love my high school years thus far. They've been fantastic. My high school years have definitely been the best years of my life so far, despite the wandering bits of drama that strike terror into the hearts of all high schoolers. But you know, even with that, and maybe some through that, I have made the best friends I've ever had, and had the best times of my life. There is always someone there to pray for me, to encourage me, be crazy with me, laugh with me, listen to me - really, high school has been amazing.
But God has amazing plans for me. I know He does. And even though they scare me sometimes, I know I have no reason to fear, because as Paul says in Ephesians 1, God has "... a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth." God has an awesome plan for my life. Like I said, I don't know what He has planned for me - if it's difficult or easy or lots of both. But whatever it is, I know it's a plan that He'll carry me through. No matter what, He has promised me, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." And He goes on to say, continuing what He said in Isaiah 43, "Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you."
God loves us. He has a plan for us. I know He has a plan for me. And I'm looking forward to seeing what His plan for my life is.

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' "
~Jeremiah 29:11