Early Seasons

Living at 7200 feet has gotten pretty comfortable now that we have lived in Colorado almost 6 months. It also has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on how you look at it. The temperatures really vary here. This morning it frosted for the first time. There has been an ominous sense in the air that says 'better get your outside chores wrapped up before the snow flies'. So I have been busy putting in windows and insulating, trying to beat winter. This will obviously be our first winter here, so we are preparing well, not sure what to expect.

The season changing always makes me excited. It focuses me on the future and the hopes that wait there. I find myself dreaming and scheming and planning this time of year. It is a season of 'futures' that I look forward to. It reminds me that Papa is about the future. For so many years I struggled with all the junk in the past. I found myself bogged down with stupid mistakes I had made and reaping the consequences of past choices. But I see that God is always focused on who we are and who we are becoming. He is about change for the future. He is about hope and new life. He is about second and third and fourth chances. He is always a God of fresh starts.

I find that when I think about it, the future is why God interacts with us. He heals us so we can live - in the future. He forgives our sin so we can love - as we walk down the road into the future. He is about tomorrow being better than today, even if that tomorrow is being with Him in real life (heaven). His promises are for His participation in our lives, from now forward. Every day is a fresh start to do it different, to live closer to Him, to walk away from the past.

What will we do with it? All those tomorrows piled up for us to spend as we like. How will we live more alive, more in tune, more in love, or more aware of Him? We have a choice you know. That is why He died on a cross for us - to give us a choice about the future. So how shall we live? Because all we have is from now - this minute- forward. It is ours. It is His gift to us, because He wants to walk every step with us.

So take His hand and run with perseverance the race marked out for you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the writer and finisher of all you are.