Expectant in Spring

Springtime has finally arrived!  And, if you live in a climate zone similar to mine, you are probably so grateful for the advent of this long anticipated season that you could nearly shout with glee!

Honestly, I try NOT to wish my life away but it is hard during the long, dark and frigid months of winter.  Believe me … I do honestly endeavor to be “content” in whatever season I find myself in … but winter is not my favorite … if you know what I mean.

I am a girl who was born for the sunshine.  I love hot weather, an abundance of sunny days and long walks accompanied by the sound of lawn mowers and bumblebees.

I love open-toed shoes, the smell of the earth after it rains and the longer days that are ushered in with spring’s coming.

I was made for springtime flowers, baby bunny rabbits and the birth of all that is fresh and new. 

There is something about springtime that raises one’s hopes and expectations. 

Suddenly, when the first whiff of spring washes over your soul, you know that you were made for more than winter. 

When spring has at long last sprung, hope begins to break through in the deepest places of your cold, winterized heart!

Spring is a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be.

Spring ALWAYS puts a new spring in my step, a fresh and lilting song in my heart and even an untried possibility or two in my soul.

“Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” – Isaiah 43:19

As my calendar turned from March to April this year … and the view out of my office window changed from snow to the first blooms of spring … I felt that perhaps the Lord was speaking to me.  And, I have an inkling that He wasn’t just speaking to me for my sake but perhaps He was speaking to me for your sake as well.

We all ache for something new and fresh, don’t we? 

Who doesn’t love a new baby … or a new opportunity … a new book … or even a new recipe?  Whose heart doesn’t race at the expectation of a new friend … a fresh coat of paint … or a new place to go? 

We all love the feeling that a vibrant and unexperienced joy ushers into the humdrum of an ordinary life.

Women, especially, understand the expectancy of giving birth to something new!  Oh, the pregnancy is certainly not much fun and the birth experience is sure to be painful and bloody, but when a new mom holds a baby, so fresh from heaven’s wonder, suddenly life becomes an unpainted palette of rich possibility.

As the mother of 5 children on earth and 5 children in heaven, and, as the grandmother of 7 delightful little ones, I certainly know what it entails to be “expecting”.

As winter turned to spring this year, God spoke to me that He was about to birth something new in me and through me.  God actually said to me, “Carol … you’re pregnant!”

What?!  God … certainly You know that the possibility of giving birth ended for me at least a decade ago!

What?!  God … you know I love babies … are you going to do for me what You did for Sarah … and Hannah … and Elizabeth?!

And then I heard God speak once again to my expectant heart, “Carol, you are not going to give birth to a baby but you are going to give birth to new dreams and visions and possibilities.  Carol … it’s time for you to allow Me to plant a seed of destiny in you once again!”

What are you expecting?  Has God birthed something new in you lately?  Perhaps you and I should begin to act like expectant mothers!  We should prepare for discomfort, for the birthing process and for the joy of impacting the next generation!

I believe that this new season of God-breathed pregnancy is not just for a younger generation but that the Father is including many Sarah’s, Hannah’s and Elizabeth’s in this outpouring of new birth.

In God’s Kingdom, age has nothing to do with the ability to give birth to a move of God that will impact the generations to come!  God is willing to use the young and the old; He is looking for women with a past and for those who have lived quietly and righteously. God will give birth through women who are tired and through those girls who are filled with new passion and energy.

The Lord desires that you would live with an attitude of unmatched promise and life-changing expectation. 

When you open your Bible in the morning, open it with the confidence that God will speak to you indeed through the sacred page. It is when we open our Bibles and read the powerful Words of the Holy Spirit that a new seed of destiny is placed in each one of us.

When you enter into a personal time of prayer and worship, enter into it with the assurance that God will meet you there and that He will speak to your barren soul.  It is when we commune with God on a daily basis that the transfer of a new dream happens. 

My prayer is that you can declare, with Mary, with Hannah, with Sarah, with Elizabeth, and with me, "I'm pregnant!"