The Path I Walk: March on...

It is March and I am marching on...the thaw is coming. The cycle of life goes like this: birth, life, death, decay, new life. Spring can't be far away, can it? New life is busting out all over. My post a couple weeks ago, Ahhh, Spring was somewhat premature...but I'm sure we are over the hump, don't you think?
Looks can be deceiving~it looked like a beautiful, sunny Spring day but once you got out there, the frigid cold cut like a knife. It was 6 degrees this morning when I drove through town. With the wind chill, the temps were in the negative. Later in the day, I decided that I just couldn't do the gym today. I had to get out. I had to get air. Real air. Even if it was cold. I bundled up, put on my snow boots, my scarf, my gloves, and my wool hat with the flaps that looks like a serious arctic trekker's hat~ and still, within minutes of starting to walk, my legs not covered by my jacket, felt numb. I pressed on. The scenery was compelling. I often feel the closest to God when I am outside and in the middle of nature. I sometimes go to the beach or the Pine Creek Trail, sometimes Degraaf Nature Center. I love being out. There are always a select few other worshippers present.The die hards. Those of us who cannot stay away no matter the weather! Today I saw a few people out with their dogs. Most of the others stayed in their warm cars just worshipping from afar. I noticed several bird watchers in the upper lots holding binoculars, looking for Eagles I suspect. I know that Spring IS coming. One of my clients encouraged me by sharing the fact that her daffodils had begun to sprout. That's a sure sign. I know that Gunther has begun shedding his winter coat which has made me the proud owner of a mohair carpet no matter how many times in a day that I vaccuume!My spritual muse this week has been two-fold. The sermon at VPM was about marriage relationships specifically and men and women interacting in general.At first glance, when I first walked in, I thought, Oh, brother, you coulda skipped this one!I was surprised to find that some of the things Pastor Steve shared about men was very thought provoking. For instance, he shared that 75% of men surveyed said that given the choice of being alone and unloved vs being disrespected and made to feel inadequate, they would rather be alone and unloved. One of the most important things to men is to have the respect and appreciation of the women in their lives. They want to be understood and supported by their women. They want us to be their biggest fans and to catch them doing something right. They want for us to see the good. To respect their judgment. To respect their abilities. To be respectful in our communication. Although, it is too late for this information to benefit my marriage, I do still have men in my life. Lots of them. I have my dad, my brother, nephews, sons, grandson, and guy friends. Even though I feel that I was wronged more in my marriage than what wrongs I inflicted, this message still made me flinch. There were times that I could have done a better job in this area. I regret this. Thankfully, that's not the end. I do have the opportunity to be more understanding and supportive of the men in my life currently and I intend, with God's help, to do just that. The other muse is Max Lucado's 3:16. We talked tonight in Life Group about the fact that God is in the midst of every detail of life-no matter how small-and that we need to commit to trusting him in every situation. As backup for that, we went through all the scriptures that point to the reality of God, especially as it relates to His creation of all things: Ps. 19:1, Psalm 74:16, Psalm 90:2, Psalm 97:6,Isaiah 46:9, John 5:26, Acts 17:25, James 1:13. There are no accidents!Trust God for everything in your life-no matter how big-no matter how small. Oh, yeah, Spring officially arrives March 20th. Not so far!