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Monday, May 16, 2011

Blooming

** A note about blogging. It's fascinating to me how much of a post comes only in the midst of writing. So much of what I've written below (or ever), I hadn't fully expressed--and more, I didn't really know--until I wrote it down. There are truths I've stumbled upon only as I've written them, connections I've made only as I've sought to find the right words. As King says, "To know, I have to write." (That one is in the collage.) And so blogging is about much more than just recording my life and letting you guys in on it. It is reflecting and it is understanding; it is about letting myself in on it, too.

Over the past few years, I've made a few collages. There was one I made right after I began school in 2007. I love how the theme--inspired by the time of year--also fit with that time of my life. After all, isn't fall the time of going back to school? A time of change? A time of paradox--bright colors mixed with a bit of dying. And that's just what that time was. Excitement, fear, courage, change. And, of course, looking back now, I also know it was a time leading into the winter. Oh, the winter.

You know all about the winter. I've documented it in several places. There was a winter collage, too. I made it in December 2009, I believe, and its character is very well summed up in this post from the same time. The winter was hard. Stress, depression, soul-aching weariness, unemployment. It was bleak at times, but there was also beauty there. What profound grace I experienced in the winter, and I did find that blessed quiet for my tired soul. And once more, looking back, I know it was the time leading in to the spring.

And do you remember me looking for the spring? Waiting for the flowers to bloom?

Ironically, they never did. But, oh, spring has come anyway.

Just after I began my job in January, I started to think about whether I should make a spring collage. I was reflecting on my seasonal collection and trying to find an outlet for what the spring was looking and feeling like. But as I began to decorate my office--with the lampshade and the collages--I realized those projects are my spring collage. Bright colors; flowers; happy, inspirational, personal quotes that speak to my faith, my writing, where I'm at, and where I'm going. And it is such an exciting place, such an exciting season, that I am displaying it for all to see.

And as much as I thought it would hurt my heart to claim this verse because of the history it represents (the one that, even as I first typed this four months ago brought tears to my eyes), there is a double significance because of that history. Even out of that desert comes blooming. And so, four months later, there are no tears, only redemption, just as was promised: The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Isaiah 35:1 (That one made it on the collage, too.)

Welcome, spring. It's so good to see you.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm....this now seems particularly pertinent!!
xoxoxoxoxoxmomxoxoxoxo