Chaos of Spring

Wednesday welcomed 78 degrees a day in my yard turning soil for this years garden and beautiful sunshine that was so welcomed after the winter weather of February.

Imagine then, waking up to sleet three days later.  At first I was disappointed with the change but then I thought about the beauty of the quickly changing weather during the days of spring.  It's when we still have one foot in winter and another walking toward summer and what an exciting change that is. We all know though, that come summer we will be sweating from the heat and wishing the temperature were a bit cooler.  But if you really think about it, what season would we really appreciate if we didn't have the others to give us that appreciation?

So as I looked out the window and the sleet turned to snow, a red cardinal landed on the hedge that surrounds my patio and can be viewed by the back window.  It is this window I look out every morning while the dog makes her first outdoor visit.  The contrast of the red in the cardinal and the snow landing around him is just as beautiful as that one foot in winter and the other heading to summer. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

Bat Wings

Bat Wings -

That's what I was thinking as I was in the bathroom yesterday after my shower. Most of us don't spend a lot of time thinking about bat wings unless we are avid vampire and bat fan.

However, as always I think of these things at times when looking at my body. As I was in the bathroom though, I lifted my arms to place deodorant on the 'pits' and saw these flesh colored bat wings underneath each of my arms. Usually, I would recoil at the view in the mirror and promptly attempt to remove the vision from those tender eyes of mine. This time, I looked at them. Really looked at them. They were strangely fascinating. I mean flabby, a few cottage cheese dents, and elongated gravitational pull of skin toward ground.

My first emotion was disgust, I mean c'mon there are bat wings underneath my arms! Then I had to remind myself that those wings were of my own doing. And by the way, why don't we call them angel wings wouldn't that actually be a more positive look at the wings I created? Anyhow the second thing I had to remind myself of was the fact that the wings us women so readily want to gag at have no value to the men we meet. In fact, at one point a man said to me "frankly I never notice them until a woman brings them up." Hmmmm, very interesting indeed.

So why do we care? Why are we so vain as to worry about something of which a) we don't change when able and b) has nothing to do with the person I or you can choose to be each day when we wake up. So why choose to start our days with a negative tape that begins our day in the red? Other than the hope that clothing companies will increase the arm size for my bat wings, I think I would rather start the day with some positive thoughts so my bat wings have now been transformed into angel wings.

Song of Solomon 4:7
You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

1 Peter 3:3-4
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

Well my angel friends - may your wings lift you to bright heights today.