A Change of Plans by Lynn Dove

You will have to excuse me, but tomorrow my daughter gets married and I'm just a wee bit excited!  We had been looking forward to this day, July 18, 2020 for well over a year.  The venue had been booked a year in advance, as had the photographer, and florist.  My daughter, Carmen, and her fiance, Jack dreamed of the way the day would go.  They had been meticulous in planning everything down to the finest detail.  I was blessed to be with Carmen when she picked out the gown of her dreams just before I started my chemo treatments last year.  Bridesmaids and groomsmen were selected, engagement photos shot, and wedding invites all mailed out at the beginning of March. 

Then Covid-19 hit and everything changed!

The province of Alberta went into total lock down, as did the rest of Canada.  As the weeks lagged on in isolation, Carmen and Jack faced the reality that their wedding plans had to change.  As out-of-town guests were forced to cancel their flights, and Alberta imposed group size restrictions, they had to make tough decisions.  Reluctantly,  they cancelled the dinner planned for over a hundred guests at their chosen golf course venue.  They explained their circumstances with their wedding merchants to tell them of their change of plans.  Thankfully, everyone was incredibly understanding and supportive of the young couple. They emailed all the invited wedding guests and said, "Due to the current situation, and our concerns for the health of our loved ones, we have decided to cancel our wedding.  We will be eloping on July 18, 2020.  We trust you understand our decision.  Thank you and we send our love and best wishes for good health.  Carmen & Jack." 

With that said, the wedding day they had dreamed about for over a year vanished in a vapour of tears.  

I wept before the Lord about our world situation in general, but particularly I cried out to the Lord to comfort my daughter and my son-in-law-to-be as they tried to come to terms with this huge change of plans.  They were adamant they wanted to be married on their chosen day, but the question was where to have the ceremony and how to celebrate with the tight Covid safety restrictions in place.  For several weeks, they did not know what they would do.  My heart broke every time my daughter texted me.  At first they thought about just driving to the mountains, find a scenic spot with just parents and their officiant being present to see them take their vows, but the provincial parks were closed and officials refused them permits.  They were becoming so discouraged and my prayers intensified for them to think "outside the box" and settle on a plan they could eventually embrace wholeheartedly.  I jumped for joy, literally, when they finally decided to have the ceremony at our home and have a small dinner "reception" at Jack's parent's home. 

It was an answer to prayer.

For the last several weeks we have been in full-scale planning mode.  My husband built their wedding arch and we've been trying to get our small acreage in shape so it will be an almost park-like setting for the ceremony.  The florist and photographer have adapted to the new changes well, and are prepared for the smaller gathering.  Jack's parents have superbly decorated their home for the reception dinner, making the setting as festive and beautiful as it could possibly be.  We hired a caterer, who has impressed us all with her attention to detail, and we are looking forward to the plated dinner, and the sweet treats she has planned to serve.  We know that the day's celebration will be considerably scaled back with only twenty people in attendance, but Carmen and Jack have observed how everything has just come together in so many ways that they are confident their day will be as special as it can possibly be.  I suspect that when the young couple look back on their wedding day in the coming years, they will remember the love of family, and the joy of the day, and they will not dwell on "what might have been", but only remember how wonderful it was!

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com   

Bloom Where You Are Planted by Lynn Dove

The sidewalks were pink with cherry blossom snow.  I could smell the fragrance of newly mowed grass, mingled with the sweet aroma of springtime blossoms.  The seagulls screeched their welcome to me as I walked towards the shoreline and embraced the full view of the ocean, the waves lapping in rhythmic cadence to the beating of my heart.  I was home.  Well, the home of my childhood at least. 

Several weeks before the travel bans and the Covid_19 season of isolation hit us all, I had left my wintry “home” in Alberta, to come to Vancouver Island for a week-long stay.  Had I known what we would be facing when we returned home from the Island, I likely would have fretted and not enjoyed this brief sojourn.  Thankfully, we were blissfully unaware of the growing pandemic looming just over the horizon so we thoroughly enjoyed our trip, drinking in the beauty and familiarity all around us.  Truth be told, I have been a prairie girl far longer than an island girl, having lived in the Calgary area most of my adult life.  Still, whenever I have had opportunity to visit Victoria and travel up and down the Island, I always feel like I am experiencing a homecoming of sorts.  The Island is where I spent my childhood, my teen years, and two years of university before I married the love of my life and returned to Calgary to settle permanently.  I have been a landlubber in Alberta since 1979, raising my family, and enduring the long, harsh winters there.  The getaway to visit parents, friends and family on Vancouver Island has become an almost yearly trek.  It is our annual reprieve from the cold of February and March in Alberta, to embrace Spring in all its glory there on the Island.  I drink in all the green, the budding trees, the crocuses and daffodils that grow like weeds everywhere I look.  I want the sights and smells to imprint themselves on my psyche, so I can recall them vividly when I again return to my Albertan home still in the throes of winter.

Last year, we did not go to the Island.  In April last year I was experiencing a myriad of strange aches and pains that was eventually diagnosed as endometrial cancer.  Spring was all but forgotten as I fought and battled up to Christmas.  During the darkest of those days, when the battle seemed almost overwhelming, I wasn’t sure I would ever experience another spring.  I felt the icy fingers of winter engulf me, even in the heat of summer.  I tried to remain positive, leaning on God for strength through the ordeal of chemo.  Always looking towards the finish line, when I could declare the battle over, I found comfort thinking about how I would embrace life after cancer.  The first item on my “to do” list, was to plan a trip to the Island. 

Wonderment.

 It’s the best way to describe how I felt throughout that week on Vancouver Island.  Wonderment at experiencing Spring in all its glory there, but also wonderment at being fully alive, fully in the moment, battle-weary, but overwhelmingly thankful to be thriving, not just surviving once again!
 

That feeling persists. 

Coming home to wintry Alberta, I didn’t complain about leaving the green of Spring there on the Island even when I saw the white drifts of snow piled up in our driveway.  I was home.  The break from winter had been refreshing, but the familiarity and peacefulness I feel here, even being in the last grips of winter chill, warms my heart like nothing else.  I remind myself that I must bloom where I am planted.  I must bloom, survive, thrive, and embrace life for as many days, weeks, and years that God gives me.  

I can't forget that.

Even in the midst of this Covid isolation, forced quarantine, and my inability to venture out because of my compromised immunity, I remind myself that this season will pass eventually.  I long to hug on my loved ones, and my arms ache to cuddle my grandbabies once again.  Still, I continue to stay positive.  I must enjoy each day as a gift from God no matter what circumstances lay before me.  I must continue to bloom, to look to the future, and be thankful.

After all, I praise God every day that I can bloom at all!

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com   

Basking in the Sonshine by Steph Beth Nickel

I wrote the following post for HopeStreamRadio, and it seems to fit with this month's theme quite nicely. I gave it the title "Treasured Rest," but "Basking in the Sonshine" works as well. Be encouraged.

As I write this, I am officially on holidays. Although I have a very full day ahead of me, getting things done around the house, primarily in my home office, I look forward to a couple of weeks of rest and relaxation. As I finish up this devotional, I am approximately eight-and-a-half hours away from taking off for Alberta.

While I am thrilled for this opportunity to visit the Rockies with my husband of almost 35 years—and know he and this trip are gifts from God—that is not the kind of rest the Lord is referring to in Matthew 11. This is a more amazing type of rest, one that we can enjoy while on vacation or in the midst of our most busy, demanding day.

God's Idea of Rest

In verses 28-30 of Matthew 11, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (ESV).

If we come to Jesus and accept the gift of salvation He purchased, it’s highly unlikely He will remove all the people and circumstances from our life that we find burdensome and exhausting. However, we can discover a peace that overshadows even the most challenging task or individual.

An Amazing Example

There is a dear senior saint in our congregation who will likely go home to be with the Lord before I return from holidays. Although I haven’t gone to see him in hospital, our pastor has—several times. And his report? That Harry never fails to be an encouragement. He has a big smile on his face and reassures everyone that he is ready to enter eternity. Even his wife and daughter shared this with me recently. That’s the kind of peace that surpasses human understanding.

And that same peace is will be what sees his family and friends through the challenging days ahead.

Invitations and Commands

Although the verses in Matthew 11 read as a wondrous invitation—and they are—there are actually three commands in the passage. We are to come to Jesus. We are to take His yoke upon us. And we are to learn from Him. These are not suggestions. They are imperatives.

We must come to Him, originally for salvation and then day by day for comfort, guidance, direction, etc. We will not experience His ongoing gift of true peace and rest if we neglect our time with Him and our fellowship with other believers.

Second we are to take His yoke upon us. Remember what Jesus says in Luke 9:23: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

In human terms, we think of rest as a break from our routine, possibly to sleep in, sit on the beach, and read a book. While all of these may, in one way, be restful, they have little, if anything, to do with taking up our cross.

As we learn what the Lord would have us do with our life, and we willingly lay aside our own agenda, we will experience a rest that makes vacationing seem insignificant in comparison.

The last command the Lord gives in this passage is the directive to learn from Him. And that will take a lifetime.

Learning from the Lord's Example

How do we learn from Jesus?

We study the gospels. John is my personal favourite.

Next, we must prayerfully ask the Lord to show us how Jesus’s example translates into our own life. 
We must seek to live according to His example and instruction. This won’t happen in our own strength. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the desire to do so—and the insight as to how to follow the Saviour’s example.

We ask for forgiveness when we fail to do so. As believers in Jesus, we can rest assured that He has already done so. Talk about a cause for peace!

Whether we’re on vacation or in the midst of our busiest time of the year, these pursuits are crucial.

A life of godly rest may or may not include a vacation in the mountains. It will, however, include sacrifice, denying oneself, and hard work. But even more than that, it will mean partnering with the Lord Himself, walking side by side with Him, and finding deep soul rest because of His grace.