Kathy King: Home
Could there be a more wonderful time of year? Greetings and blessings to you, my old and new friends! I feel as if I’m coming out of hibernation – for “lo, the winter is passed…” Life has a way of turning us upside down and all of a sudden, the road we’ve been traveling comes to an abrupt halt! My darling daddy passed away in January, finally at peace, and with my mom. I picture them on that grand jewel encrusted dance floor of Heaven doing the jitterbug – truly “Dancing with the Stars!”
When my mom died, life was forever altered. When my dad left me, too, time sort of stood still and I was frozen in place. Month after month I had tended to their needs and now, in such a short span of time, there was no one to tend to! How odd!
For the past several months, I have been sorting through two lifetimes of memories – well, actually, more than that. Nestled in boxes and bags and tucked into every drawer and corner of the attic and basement, I am finding precious mementoes that my mother and father had saved. The timeline of life speaks volumes as I open envelopes and peek into spaces that haven’t been explored in years.
I have cried over whisper thin pages of handwriting long forgotten, and rejoiced that I did, indeed, write home more often than I remembered! I have found heirlooms from my mother’s childhood and photos of family members I’ve never known. I’ve discovered old report cards and yearbooks (none of mine, thank goodness, but I’m not through yet!); picture books, dolls, stuffed animals, and baby shoes. I’m learning about my parents in a new light – gosh, how I wish I could have asked them the stories behind these souvenirs of life long since hidden away!
It is amazing to find the things my mother cherished all these years! I wonder if she knew she had kept them? It is so difficult to know what to save and what to get rid of, and I’m sure that everyone who has ever gone through this will agree. My aunt used to say that she’d never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul, and thankfully, no, you can’t take it with you. Can you imagine how God’s eyes would roll if everyone arrived with their abundance of detritus from this world? Oh, how we treasure “the stuff!”
I am trying so hard to rejoice in the knowledge that springtime is the season of “new life.” The trees are budding, the daffodils and hyacinths are blooming, everyone around me is sneezing, the nurseries are stocking up, and there is a promise of hope with each new dawn. I know it’s there, I see it, I feel it, but my heart is still heavy with winter’s chill.
Life is overwhelming at times. One minute I am filled with the desire to weep and run screaming into the woods, away from what faces me around the corner. The next, I am filled with wonder and anticipation at the certainty that there is joy in abundance waiting just ahead. I am not a good changer. I truly believe that when one door closes another one opens. But for some reason, I want to leave every door cracked just enough to slip back through if I change my mind!
I have been here in Virginia for almost two years, creating a life for myself while taking care of my parents. Their life became my life, their friends became my friends, and their needs became my needs. Now, in the blink of an eye, everything has changed. My life now must become my own life again, and as exciting as that may seem, it is just as terrifying. This was a door I didn’t have the option to keep open. God closed it. I do believe His timing is perfect and yet, I wasn’t ready. When you are looking ahead, the road seems endless – in looking back, the road was a mere cobblestone walkway.
I have believed all this time that I must trust Him to provide the direction I need here at the end of this journey. Unfortunately, my bags aren’t packed, and my GPS isn’t programmed, since I don’t have a clue where the destination will be. How is it that at this stage of life, I’ve lost my way? Blessedly, I still have my compass, and The Word of God has never let me get completely lost. I am certain that here, where the road has fallen away, He will provide the hand to lead me forward.
I got an early Easter gift yesterday – I stopped my morning jog and was invited to tuck into the stall where twin lambs were born during the night! Twelve hours old, perfect and precious, standing on wobbly little legs and looking with wonder at this new world around them. I was awed at the sight!
New life. It’s a wondrous thing! I was so blessed to find a lamb within the straw, and not a colored egg. The message of “Easter” as the world sees it is still a bunny, a basket, and a bonnet. The message of Easter as our hearts see it, is an empty tomb, filled only with the promise that because He died a horrific death for us on that cross, we can know without question that we are loved. Looking at that tiny lamb, I was humbled that this was God’s sacrifice for our sin – from the time of Moses to the Good News of Our Risen Lord.
We have only to look at the cross to picture His sacrifice – His blood, His body, and His belief, that we are worth the giving of His life. As I held my mother’s hand and watched as Jesus scooped her into His arms, and hugged my dad’s fragile shoulders as he breathed his last breath and walked into the Kingdom completely well and pain-free, I realized that this was, indeed, new life in every form.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Just as the old order has passed, the new order and new life has come. “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” By His death, we are renewed – chosen by His love, restored, refurbished, reconditioned – our old life completely replaced with the new life He offers!
I recently read, “The cross simultaneously serves as a death certificate for our old life of sin and a birth certificate for our new life of faith. A double stream flows from it – a stream of death that terminates the power of sin, and a stream of life that empowers us to walk by faith and to be alive to the things of God.” How blessed are we to be so loved! It’s the hope we have in Christ Jesus that allows us to say goodbye – to our loved ones, to our past, and to our old habits. But in doing so, because of who He is, we can look with wonder and expectation to “the rest of the story.”
Because who He is, is “the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross…” And there we have it! The JOY set before us! Opening up on all sides – shimmering in the dawn, blinding in the sunlight, glorious in the sunset! Birth, life, death – the circle of life. And shining within that circle with infinite patience, unending grace, supreme mercy, and an overwhelmingly constant love, is The Son! Radiant in His splendor and lavish in His blessings!
New life. New opportunities. New growth. Newly opened doors… Ah, yes! And what does the future hold? Only God knows, and at this moment in time, He’s not telling! “This is the day the Lord has made” – THIS one! Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but this very day! “He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.” Who among us wouldn’t want to travel the journey cradled in His arms!
It’s a glorious new spring, my friends! Love one another! Revel in this new beginning and a fresh, unwritten page of life’s journal. Let’s leave the hurts and burdens where they belong – at the foot of the cross – and step forward with confidence and joy that His presence within and around us will be our trustworthy and faithful Guide. Let us celebrate this burst of new life with wild abandon, reckless rejoicing, and songs of praise and thanksgiving!
Breath by breath, moment by moment, step by step…life unfolds. And His Glory abounds. Gather the joy and wrap yourself in the brilliance of His Son-light. Wait for it to shine on the path ahead, and know with certainty that where He leads is exactly where you want to be! Embrace the days with laughter and wonder, savor their passion, and be dazzled by their blessings!
This New Life is His treasured gift to us. How could we ever ask for more?
