Iowa

It's a gorgeous, warm day! The sun is shining; the birds are singing. I moved my desk in front of the livingroom window so I could sit in the sun and feel the fresh air. I must admit, one good thing about Iowa is that on average it's about ten degrees warmer than Michigan in March. The not-so-good thing: the wind is blowing like crazy. And of course, no trees. Well, yes, there are trees...but not the big, full, luscious Maples and Oaks that line the streets of my home town. It's funny how I long for spring all through the winter, and then when it hits, I long for something more (in this case trees to break the wind).

After two years in Iowa, I think I am discoving that I will always have these longings for where I grew up...they aren't going to go away. It isn't that I don't love certain things about here, just that they aren't taking the place of things that I grew up loving deeply. I would never ever leave this place...it is where the love of my life is. But I am beginning to see that I need my Lord to fill some of those longings that just can't find a venue here. And I realize that this is good for me. It is good to find the loveliness of Christ in the midst of things that are unlovely.

May the loveliness of our Lord fill me and you in all the spaces of our souls that have lost something that was once lovely.