9 Months

You could say I am on the homestretch of the racetrack.  If you aren't familiar with that term it means this: the straight part of the race track from the last turn to the finish line.  It basically means the final phase of the race is here! I am counting the days.  Eight days and I will have my last chemo treatment.   Can you tell I am excited?  These last 9 months have had my share of ups and downs.  It's funny that it ended up being 9 months.  Isn't that the same period of time for gestation? Now I know that God is big on time and His timing is perfect.  It's just rather comical if you ask me that this season has lasted almost exactly 9 months. I am about to give birth.  Literally this is what it feels like.  I have been waiting through this season of dormancy, resting in His Presence, trusting Him daily for strength, praying for peace and healing.  So the fruit is getting ripe.  The transformation is going to take place.  A re-birth you could say is about to unfold.  Seasons don't last forever.  Through creation God speaks.  It is through the seasons that change that He speaks.  It is winter here in Idaho.  It is cold out.  We haven't had much snow to speak of (yet).  The ground is frozen and plants are asleep for the long winter.  But spring is coming.  The days are getting longer.
The moon was glorious the other night.  It was low in the black sky with bright yellow to golden hues beaming from 238,857 miles away. It spoke so clearly to me of His character.  You see that is what creation does.  It speaks of His character to us.  Through tangible things we see with our own eyes, we get a glimpse into what our heavenly Father is like.  He is powerful, almighty, merciful, creative and romantic.  He calls to us through the beauty of creation to seek Him.  To know Him deeper.  You can count on the seasons changing.  Our calendars tell us when summer turns to fall to winter then spring.  You can count on life changes. Life altering changes.  Changes like cancer. It changes you and your family.  I prayed for a long time for something to change in my circumstances.  I wanted God to intervene and help change me into the women He wanted.  I stopped saying change "them."  Once this occurred a heavy weight was lifted.  I experienced such freedom in Christ.  I am not saying that I prayed for something like cancer to occur, but I honestly meant it when I said your will not mine.  Can we be that real with ourselves and with God to say it and really mean it?  Can I really sing blessed be your name...you give and take away?  Can I sing I'll stand with my arms high and lifted to the one who gave it all? Am I really willing to bless and stand?  What is this going to cost me?  The answer my friend is found in the season you are in.  Through the journey we are to take the time and taste, smell, feel and experience His beauty around us.  It is in the process of walking through the season that we begin to get answers to these questions. Why cancer to me? Why now?  I may never know those answers.  But I do know this:  God is sovereign and his creation speaks to me of his great love for me.  I walk through the season because He is with me, guiding me step by step.  He gives me a glorious moon that reflects His glory to remind me of His never ending fountain of love just for me.
I am awestruck at His creativity.  I love plants, especially flowers.  They are so intricate, beautiful and colorful.  Intelligent design was behind this.  Sunflowers are my favorites.  They are part of the Aster family.  There are over 460 identified plant families with an estimation of over 400,000 individual flowers species on the planet.  This blows me away.  Even flowers are only here on earth for a season.  They do not last long. "The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people [are] grass." Isaiah 40:7  God cares about the beauty contained in a flower but it doesn't last long.  How much more does He care for me and for you? So much more.  We just don't take the time to enjoy the beauty around us.  To see what He has made for us to enjoy.  "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."  Romans 1:20

Sunflower from my garden last year

There is fragrance in the flower. It is pretty to look at. The fruit develops from the flower.  It takes pollination and time then for the fruit to develop.  How does 9 months sound? I think that is long enough. If you really think about it most flowering plants and trees take about that long from spring to fall.  Is that a coincidence? No way, once again intelligence design is at work speaking to us about His plans, His ways and His love. Think about the sunflower seed.  Look at the photo above.  The seeds will develop in the center of the head.  The seeds are the fruit.  If planted again they will grow more sunflower plants.   Waiting for the fruit to be ripe in my life in my season. 
I have avocados sitting on my counter. They aren't ripe yet. Can't wait for them to be ripe because then I can eat them and taste the goodness.    "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8