The Greatest Expectation-Updated and Recycled

This post was originally written last year about this same time...and is still appropriate today as we anticipate the coming Easter season and prepare our hearts during this time we call "Lent".  The only difference I noticed is that these pictures taken at exactly this time last year show that spring was a little behind where we are today...our dogwood trees have already blossomed and are fading away as new leaves open up, and the Easter lilies are already much taller than the ones pictured here. Also, the camellia bushes are already finished blooming as well. So my thoughts that spring arrived a little early this year is pretty accurate.  I just hope that doesn't mean that summer will arrive too soon.  Trying to put off the really hot weather as long as we can!  I know my northern friends are probably wishing it would hurry up!

Original Post 3/5/2016:

"For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now."

Romans 8:22

Is there a woman out there who has borne a child who does not remember the anticipation and expectation of awaiting the birth of that baby? And who doesn't recall the groaning and agony of laboring to deliver that child...and yet, once that precious baby was delivered and placed in your arms it seemed as though all memory of the labor pains simply dissolved and was replaced with utter joy and delight at the sight of your beautiful child.  

Everywhere we look right now there is the expectation of Spring. Here in Florida where I live spring comes much earlier than the rest of the country. Perhaps some of our northern friends think that we live in a perpetual time of spring here, but that is not truly the case.  Many of our trees do lose their leaves and flowers become dormant.  Some animals and reptiles go into a kind of hibernation for the winter and don't reappear until the weather is much warmer. As I walked around our yard this morning I saw many examples of spring coming soon.

Dogwood buds ready to bloom

Lots of Bird Activity

This is one of our resident wrens...

and this is a wren's nest in an old shelf unit on our back porch...
Not a very tidy housekeeper...

Easter Lilies awaiting their resurrection day....

Young Maple Tree putting forth new life...

Camellia Bud ready to bloom

These ugly branches are actually Wisteria buds getting ready to put forth their lush  and fragrant flowers

As we anticipate the beautiful Easter season and the glorious resurrection of Christ we must first pass through Lent, the time of fasting and prayer as we prepare our hearts and souls for the remembrance of the agony of the passion of the Christ on the Cross when He sacrificed His life for our salvation. 

And then...there is the anticipation of something more...it would seem that the whole world is waiting for the next step.  Those of us who are "in Christ" know what that next step will be and we eagerly await it...and that is the return of our Lord to the earth,

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  

And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  

Therefore comfort one another with these words." 

 I Thessalonians 4:16-18

When I listen to the news and hear all the ugliness that is going on around us in this world, I am truly comforted by this great hope.  Christ is coming back again...and even though we do not know the exact time and date, we can certainly see the signs that the day could be very near. 

So, as we anticipate this happy time of spring and the resurrection of new life from what appeared to be dead, let us also look forward to that day when Christ will return to take us all home to heaven to live forever with Him. That is the greatest expectation of all!

Happy Springtime!