A Mother's Love

 

 It's that time of year again between my mother's birthday and Mother's Day. Although I think a day does not ever pass without thinking of my mother, I especially remember her at this time of year between April 29th and the 2nd Sunday in May. 

But I'm pretty sure she isn't celebrating birthdays anymore!

 

In recent years I believe I have yearned for my mother's presence, love and counsel more than during the years that she was here. Is that possible?

 

I so long to say, "Mom, now I know some of what you went through..your lonely hours, your yearning heart, your joys and disappointments. The longer I live, the more I understand what you must have thought and felt and desired and prayed for. Forgive me for sometimes taking you for granted, for not realizing that you really did know my pains and understood my joys. Accept my sincere love and gratitude for all that you did for me. It was priceless."

 

Indeed, a mother's love is a fiercely strong and wonderfully strange thing. It follows her children the world over and knows no limits to its praise, love and defense of them. Although my mother was "the quiet type", it was a quiet strength that she had. And her strength was found in the Lord.

 

Thank you, Mom. I love you.   

A Mother's Love
A Mother's love is something
that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendored miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.

-Helen Steiner Rice

"For love is as strong as death..." (Song of Solomon 8:6)

The Blush Of Spring

I have been blessed beyond measure to indulge in the beauty of my very favorite season of the year: Spring. It has been 11 years since I was able to do this. To be fair, I did see some of Spring '07 but I did not notice or remember it as I was going through the final months of chemo at the time.

Even as I type this I can hear my daily visitor, the cardinal, and I would love to post yet another picture of him but I'll save that for a later date when I plan to talk more about my feathered friends.
As we made a trip last week to the neighboring state of Tennessee it was quite interesting to notice the different stages of Spring. From the slightly green landscape and certain flowering trees of North Carolina...

to the higher altitudes of the Great Smokey Mountains where all was still mostly bare and gray...

 to the lovely lush and flowering Tennessee Valley which shouted "hey, it's already Springtime!"...

 and then back to North Carolina which had been painted green during our absence...

...I was overcome with the beautiful and creative power of our Creator. Here are a few more pics which show the blush of Spring over the past few weeks. Green, white and pink are definitely the dominant colors. Oh, but there are other colors, I'm just not showing them yet. ;)

(You might have to click on this to notice the green buds!)

For lo, the winter is past,

the rain is over and gone. 

The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of the singing of birds is come,

and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

(KJ21 Song of Solomon 2:11,12)

Primavera!

That means Spring here in south Brazil. She was gracious on her first day here with us, giving us sunshine and gentle breezes...a bit unlike the preceeding days. I love Spring, whether here or in my beloved North Carolina. The bursting forth of new life or the promise of it is something that warms the heart and soul and is a delight to the eyes. The colors of varied types of flowers would put Crayola crayons to shame.

I will be posting more of my flower photos over the next month, I'm sure, but for now here are two of my roses-

The last rose of winter...

...and the first

rose(bud) of Spring.







I leave you with this beautiful Biblical description

of this most lovely of seasons:

"For, lo, the winter is past;

The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of the singing of birds is come,

And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs,

And the vines are in blossom;

They give forth their fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

(Song of Solomon 2:11-13

Mighty Waters

I was going through some favorite photos this morning and came across this one...
...taken in 2008 when we visited Iguaçu Falls for the first time, on the border where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet. As I looked at this again and remembered the incredible power of that sight, I was reminded of different verses which speak of the power of water, two of which I place here. Interestingly, there IS Someone and something that is more powerful still than water like this. That is so amazing and wonderful! And available to all.
"The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea." (Psalm 93:4)
"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it..." (Song of Solomon 8:7)