Spring and Sadness

I love spring! The last few days have brought many rain showers to New Orleans so as I went out for an evening walk everything was in bloom and vividly colorful and fragrant. I think I enjoy this season so much because of the newness of life. It seems like just a few weeks ago the trees were scraggly and the park was barely occupied in the evening. Now it's teaming with people - walking, running, biking and playing games. Your mouth waters at the smell of a grill being fired up and all around you the laughter of children can be heard. Life and celebration are everywhere.

This spring is different though - there is great loss in the midst of the promise of spring. A week ago a sweet friend from my church finally lost the battle after fighting to recover from a tragic car accident a little over a month ago. Our little body is torn up with grief. Everyone feels the loss - we all feel as if we lost a member of our family.

Not only that, we said goodbye to dear friends this week. As they drove out of town they took a piece of us with them.

And I begin to think about my own departure, less than two months away.

I'm ready for the day when there will be no loss, no goodbyes....when newness and life will be around us all the time. I used to not long for heaven. I thought it would be boring - singing hallelujahs for eternity with a bunch of angels that look like very large babies. Now I understand that heaven is about newness. Everything that is good - everything that we love here will be made new: every sweet moment in a relationship, every tender word from a friend, every first taste of ice cream and cool breeze that brings the fragrance of fresh honeysuckle with it....all of those things will be perfect and surround us forever. But the most important part of heaven that is that there will be no loss, there will be no pain or disappointment. Relationship with God will be complete - relationships with each other will finally be whole - will finally be all they were meant to be.

So, it's a season of welcoming the freshness of spring, but also a season of sadness and longing for me. I'm so thankful for the glimpse of heaven around me every day!