Puddles, Strawberries and Flip-Flops

Springtime in the Pacific Northwest is rollercoaster at its worst. Plants are dressing in their finery — apple and cherry blossoms, pink dogwoods, azaleas, rhodies, tulips, daffodils — you name it. At the same time, weeds and moss are rearing their ugly heads. (Does moss have a head?)

Our Spring weather is insane. One moment its glorious sunshine and blue sky — five minutes later, dark clouds roll in and it’s pouring rain or hail. Five more minutes and here comes the sun, again. How do you plan for that. What do you wear? Flip flops or rain boots? Coats or shirt sleeves?

I bought my first box of fresh strawberries yesterday, too. Berries are such a treat — but they are just as fickle. One moment they are lucious and ripe, you turn around and they begin sprouting white fuzz. I am trying to teach my children some self-control when it comes to “treats,” but then I’m snapping at them — “Hurry! Eat! Before they spoil!” Mom is a bit like the May weather, I guess.

So, here I am washing berries, gazing out at the black clouds beginning to roll across the previously blue sky, when phrases began floating through my mind. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” was followed closely by “Carpe diem — seize the day,” and then our all-American, “Make hay while the sun shines.”

But, that’s not the way I’m wired. I like to know what’s coming and be able to trust that when I put on flip flops in the morning, I won’t be splashing through icy puddles by noon. And yet, God didn’t promise that life would be predictable or simple. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) 

Even though I cannot trust the joys of this world (like strawberries and sunshine) to last more than a fleeting moment, I am thankful that He promises that His joy will last forever. 1 Peter: 23-25 lays out this certainty.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”

So, I’ve decided to gulp down my strawberries and wear my flip-flops in the rain. When the hail begins to beat on my sun-hat, I’ll close my eyes and wait it out. The sun is coming back, soon.