The Hope of Spring

Written By Carol McLeod

It’s nearly the merry month of May …  and the sun is shining almost daily now.  

 

“Spring is God’s way of saying, “One more time!” – Robert Orben 

 

The frigid clouds of winter have finally started to disappear and have made way for the glorious billows of spring. 

 

 The thermometer is about to go above 60 degrees … and I just want to shout at the hope of things to come! 

 

The mornings are warming up … the snow has disappeared … the icicles are gone … and I am one happy girl!  

“The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day He created spring.” – Bernard Williams 

 

This is my favorite time of year as I look ahead to the lazy, long, hot days of summer. 

 

Summer is not here yet … but I am so happy I can hardly contain myself.  Spring is re-introducing itself to my cold toes and wind-chapped cheeks.   

 

“Nice to meet ya’, Spring!” 

 

And close behind spring comes its beloved sibling … SUMMER!!! 

 

I can picture myself on the back deck sipping a tall glass of unsweetened iced tea.   

 

I can hear the birds singing and the bees buzzing in the hot summer sunshine.   

 

I can smell the fresh cut grass.   

 

Now … I realize that summer is not quite here yet … my garden still has remnants of a long, hard winter … but my heart is rejoicing over all that is yet to come! 

 

“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.” – Douglas Larson 

 

I am nearly shouting with glee so great is my joy over what is headed my way over the course of the next 4 calendar months!   

 

May … June … July … and August. 

After a ferocious and frozen winter that has lasted nearly 6 months, I have put my face toward the calendar date of May 1 … and await with grand expectation the days of summer that are certainly in my future. 

 

I know that I know that summer is coming.   

 

It’s coming … it’s coming … it’s coming. 

 

I don’t have one doubt.  Winter will not last into June … it does not have the audacity nor the permission to linger beyond its seasonal boundaries.   

 

I am convinced that summer is only a few short weeks away.  

 

I rejoice … I sing … I shout over what I am unable to see with my eyes. 

 

I can’t “see” summer yet …  but I have the absolute faith for it in my sun-deprived heart. 

 

The sure promise of what is ahead gives me joy for today. 

 

The certainty of what tomorrow holds creates a grin on my countenance today. 

 

The ever-increasing nearness of sunshine, humidity, glorious flowers, and firefly evenings all set my heart rejoicing today!  Now … before it even happens! 

 

And then … the Holy Spirit gently whispers into my winter-weary heart … “Carol, your loudest shout should ALWAYS come before something happens.” 

 

And with those words … I am humbled once again. 

 

Why is it when I am unable to see something in the natural that I whine and complain?   

 

Why is it that I grow impatient with what God has promised … and rather than rejoicing with expectation … I have been known to groan with frustration.   

 

And complain with agitation.  

 

How dare I tap my toe and shake my head at God?  How dare I? 

 

Just as summer is around the very next corner … so are the promises of God.   

 

After all, He has never made a promise that He has not kept. 

 

Our loudest and most enthusiastic shout should never be a shout of thanksgiving for all that has transpired … but our loudest and most enthusiastic shout should always be about what has been promised. 

 

We are, after all, the people who are called to walk by faith and not by sight. 

 

We should be identified by the prevenient yell that comes as a prelude to an actual and expected event. 

Anyone can roar in gratitude after a gift has been given … but it takes a stubborn believer and a person filled with audacious faith to bellow in certain anticipation of a promised event. 

 

And just as I joyfully scream in the prospect of long, summer days … so should I splendidly shout in the expectation of a healing … or of needful provision … or the answer to a long-awaited prayer. 

 

Your loudest cheer should be because of what you see in your future not over what you have experienced in your past. 

 

And so, as certain as spring follows winter … and as surely as summer follows spring … I will stand with my hands raised in worship … and my mouth filled with praise … over the anticipation of what God is about to do in my life. 

 

I don’t need to experience it factually to rejoice in it by faith. 

 

My shout is an anticipatory cheer and it echoes across the pages of the calendar of my heart.   

 

I will sing in advance … and I will raise a psalm of gratitude even before God answers my prayer.   

 

I will. 

 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, for by it the men of old gained approval.” – Hebrews 11:1 & 2 

 

Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart, but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is. 

Carol McLeod
Carol says, “I am just a girl who is head over heels in love with Jesus ... passionately addicted to His Word ... and find all of the joy that I need in time spent in His presence." Carol is a Christmas-aholic, loves ACC basketball and the beach! Like all menopausal women, she is overly fond of chocolate and enjoys a good read. She doesn't like cleaning her house and is an expert in carry-out dinners. She hates to shop … loves to jog … and somehow finds time in her busy life to hang out with small children. She is the kind of woman that you could laugh with over lunch, cry with over disappointment and shout with over a victory! But … if you need her official bio … read on! Carol is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. She also hosts highly successful Just Joy! outreaches. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren! Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren!
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