Temperamental Spring Days
In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.
Mark Twain
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 NIV
When I woke up on a recent April morning, I looked outside to see damp pavement and a few flakes of snow intermingled with a tiny bit of rain…all while patches of blue sky and sunshine peeked through a cloudy sky. A short time later, as the precipitation stopped, my pup and I set out for a walk. Wearing a thick sweatshirt jacket, I felt the strong morning sun warming my back while the chilly wind from the front made me put my hands in my pockets and wish that I had gloves! The mountains had a fresh light dusting of snow yet the sun was clearly trying to claim the sky too. A temperamental spring April morning, for sure!
Sometimes we have days like that too. One moment, all seems fine and everything is going smoothly, as expected. The next moment, something happens to cast a pall on the day. Perhaps being stuck in frustrating traffic or receiving an undeserved cross word from our spouse, child, or parent; there are a myriad of little irritations that can happen in life. The question is: how do we react to those moments? Do we allow the moment to cause us to become angry or upset for the whole day? Do we deflect or reflect the negativity? Do we dwell on the hard moment or focus on the positives of the day or circumstance.
Scripture tells us to be “steadfast”. The roots of that word point to being steady and secure in faith and life. When we know that God is always with us, we can avoid letting momentary circumstances sway our attitude and behavior. Holding tightly to the truth of God’s love and faithfulness, we can let go small irritations and work on solving actual problems in a positive way at an appropriate time. That is so easy to write out, but much harder in practice! Yet our lives will be less stressful and more joyful if we are steadfast.
As for the rest of my spring day walk… As I continued along the pathway, the sun came out more and more so that I had to take off my jacket because I was getting too warm. Oddly enough, just as I had got home and sat down to write this blog, the sun disappeared again and April hail caused me to rush out and check my garden plants. A quick weather forecast check showed that the whole day would likely be a temperamental spring day!
And, in case you are wondering, every photo with this blog was from the walk or immediately afterwards… My encouragement to each of you reading this blog is that, unlike temperamental spring weather, you decide to be steadfast with a positive attitude and behavior!