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Speaker 3: and body as we hear tonight's sleep story.
Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to this sleep story from Abide. I'm Diane.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining me for our story. Spring in bloom.
Speaker 2: The cold winter months melt into the renewal of spring,
Speaker 2: and with it come seeds of hope. God is doing
Speaker 2: a new thing, and he invites us to be apart.
Speaker 2: Isaiah chapter forty three, verse eighteen and nineteen says, forget
Speaker 2: the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See
Speaker 2: I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up.
Speaker 2: Do you not perceive it? I am making a way
Speaker 2: in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. As you
Speaker 2: rest in your bed, you will hear of the stirrings
Speaker 2: of spring and the renewal that it brings on earth
Speaker 2: and within each of us. You will hear of spring
Speaker 2: rains that cleanse and nourish new growth, and how God
Speaker 2: sends his rain on us for the same purpose, to
Speaker 2: cleanse what is no longer needed, to refresh us after
Speaker 2: winter's rest, and to nourish new growth. Those spring showers
Speaker 2: give us just what we need, seeds of hope that
Speaker 2: stir within a new life, from sprouting seed to tender
Speaker 2: leaf and bud to the full blooms of fruitfulness. The
Speaker 2: cycles of spring mirror the work God wants to do
Speaker 2: in the open hearts of his children, to bring about
Speaker 2: the fullness of who He created us to be. With
Speaker 2: each scripture and blessing, may you be encouraged and reassured
Speaker 2: of the work that God is doing on your behalf.
Speaker 2: He's doing a new thing, not only on the earth
Speaker 2: in springtime, but in and through you and me. There
Speaker 2: is so much promise in a seed hidden beneath the soul,
Speaker 2: waiting for the rains, waiting for its moment to push
Speaker 2: beyond the darkness and bloom toward the light. Genesis Chapter one,
Speaker 2: verse fourteen says and God said, let there be lights
Speaker 2: in the expanse of the heavens, to separate the day
Speaker 2: from the night, and let them be for signs, and
Speaker 2: for seasons, and for days and years. God has graciously
Speaker 2: designed cycles and compartments of time for us. Can you
Speaker 2: imagine a world with no variation of day or month
Speaker 2: or seasons. God generously gives us a sky that is
Speaker 2: always changing right before our eyes. He gives us a
Speaker 2: day with a beginning and an end, and a bright
Speaker 2: of seasons to mark time and to begin anew. Each
Speaker 2: season brings its own gifts and atmosphere, but maybe none
Speaker 2: so exquisite as the fruits and florals of spring. What
Speaker 2: a dramatic change of scene as we go from the
Speaker 2: hiddenness of winter to the budding and blossoming earth in spring.
Speaker 2: Song of Solomon, chapter two, verses eleven through thirteen says,
Speaker 2: for behold, the winter is past, the rain is over
Speaker 2: and gone, The flowers appear on the earth. The time
Speaker 2: of the singing has come, and the voice of the
Speaker 2: turtle dove is heard in our land. The fig tree
Speaker 2: puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines
Speaker 2: are in blossom and give forth their freight. Spring is
Speaker 2: when everything comes alive again. Early spring is for cleansing
Speaker 2: and nourishing rains. Then comes the waking and stirring of grounds, shrubs,
Speaker 2: and trees. The season of blooming rises from the soil
Speaker 2: and the earth is renewed. God is doing a new thing,
Speaker 2: and we get to see it in the unfolding of petals,
Speaker 2: the ripening of blackberries, and the fragrance of honeysuckle. Spring
Speaker 2: is the season of extended light in the lengthening of days,
Speaker 2: the season of hopefulness and soul, the season of allowing
Speaker 2: the old to fade away with the winter chill, the
Speaker 2: time for rebirth begins. Ecclesiastes, chapter three, verses one through
Speaker 2: eight says there is a time for everything, and a
Speaker 2: season for every activity under the heavens. A time to
Speaker 2: be borne and a time to die, a time to
Speaker 2: plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill
Speaker 2: and a time to heal, a time to tear down
Speaker 2: and a time to build. A time to weep and
Speaker 2: a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a
Speaker 2: time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a
Speaker 2: time to gather them, a time to embrace, and a
Speaker 2: time to refrain from embracing. A time to search and
Speaker 2: a time to give up, a time to keep and
Speaker 2: a time to throw away, a time to tear and
Speaker 2: a time to mend. A time to be silent and
Speaker 2: a time to speak, a time to love and a
Speaker 2: time to hate, a time for war and a time
Speaker 2: for peace. Spring is a time for stirring, a time
Speaker 2: for welcome relief. The sun has been shy and the
Speaker 2: air frigid, the earth slept. We have fidgeted in our
Speaker 2: dwellings in the cozy months. But now we want to stretch.
Speaker 2: We want to feel the warm dirt beneath our fingertips
Speaker 2: and toes, the sun on our faces. The stirring has
Speaker 2: begun beneath Earth's surface. It has begun inside our long
Speaker 2: quiet bodies. Dormancy is losing its sleephold, and hibernation recedes
Speaker 2: like a cool wave on a warm beach. The flying
Speaker 2: ones return to the sky and repair their nests. The
Speaker 2: day's lengthen, butting is beginning. It's spring. It's spring. It's spring.
Speaker 2: Tender velvet leaves a soft green unfurling. We unfold as well.
Speaker 2: For a time, we stayed hidden. For a season, we
Speaker 2: drew in. Now the extending light has reached us. It
Speaker 2: asks for more of us to be seen. So we answer,
Speaker 2: We reach, We unfold. We consider what is inside that
Speaker 2: wants to be revealed, What is asking to grow and
Speaker 2: be seen, What hopes stir deep in our soil. Dreams
Speaker 2: have been buried for a time, but can no longer
Speaker 2: remain hidden. So the rains come, refreshing and cleansing. The
Speaker 2: rains can give us pause. They inspire us to boldly
Speaker 2: stand beneath living waters and to be cleansed of that
Speaker 2: which we no longer need. To be refreshed where there
Speaker 2: has been stagnancy, Springs thunderstorms bring the greatest shift as
Speaker 2: the previous season and the new one compete, bringing forth
Speaker 2: God's natural and thorough spring. Clean spring can plant this
Speaker 2: miracle within each of us, as well as we let
Speaker 2: go of the old and embrace what is new, renewed.
Speaker 2: Zachariah chapter ten, verse one says, ask the Lord for
Speaker 2: rain in the springtime. It is the Lord who sends
Speaker 2: the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people
Speaker 2: and plants of the field to everyone. Rains not only cleanse,
Speaker 2: but also nourish the soil so that it can yield
Speaker 2: new life. Deuteronomy chapter eleven, verse fourteen says, then I
Speaker 2: will send rain on your land in its season, both
Speaker 2: autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in
Speaker 2: your grain new wine and olive oil. The season of
Speaker 2: spring is not only for the earth's renewal. That same
Speaker 2: stirring is inside of us as well. With spring comes
Speaker 2: the desire for our own nourishment and growth, as natural
Speaker 2: as the fronds of a fern flourishing beneath the sky's showers.
Speaker 2: Deuteronomy chapter thirty two, verse two says, Let my teaching
Speaker 2: fall like rain, and my words descend like dew, like
Speaker 2: showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants,
Speaker 2: a blessing for rain. The ground thirsts for showers to
Speaker 2: drench and loosen its soil, so that what is beneath
Speaker 2: can move and stress be sung to life. May the
Speaker 2: hidden seeds buried deep within you be nourished with Heaven's rain.
Speaker 2: May they stir and transform and press through the unknown,
Speaker 2: sprouting toward the light. And when the raindrops fall on
Speaker 2: tender growing leaves, may it nourish the newness of budding
Speaker 2: that gathers the waters below to sustain its growth in
Speaker 2: all conditions that pushes its roots deep in the womb
Speaker 2: of the earth, while growing toward the illumination that is
Speaker 2: truth and revelation, the only place one can authentically grow.
Speaker 2: And when you are grace to see your hidden hearts
Speaker 2: dreaming blossom and bloom beyond its gestation, may your truth
Speaker 2: and beauty open fully as an offering to the one
Speaker 2: who covered you, watered your becoming, and drew you to
Speaker 2: your expansion with his warm, welcoming light. Listen now to
Speaker 2: Isaiah chapter fifty five, verses ten through thirteen. As the
Speaker 2: rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do
Speaker 2: not return to it without watering the earth and making
Speaker 2: it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for
Speaker 2: the sower and bread for the eater. So is my
Speaker 2: word that goes out from my mouth. It will not
Speaker 2: return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire
Speaker 2: and achieve the purpose for which I scent it. You
Speaker 2: will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.
Speaker 2: The mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
Speaker 2: and all the trees of the field will clap their
Speaker 2: hands instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,
Speaker 2: and instead of briars, the myrtle will grow. This will
Speaker 2: be for the Lord's renowned, for an everlasting sign that
Speaker 2: will endure forever. Let me pray for you one last time,
Speaker 2: God of all creation, of all that is beautiful and renewed.
Speaker 2: Thank you for the seasons you give and the joy
Speaker 2: you display through all you have made. Thank you for
Speaker 2: journeying with us through our own seasons as well, whether
Speaker 2: it is the hiddenness of wintering or the brightness of spring.
Speaker 2: Give us the grace to walk where you lead. When
Speaker 2: you lead, help us to embrace the newness of what
Speaker 2: you have for each of us. We know we can
Speaker 2: trust your goodness and your heart for us. In Jesus' name, Amen,
Speaker 2: thank you for joining me for spring and bloom, a
Speaker 2: celebration of God's cleansing and renewal of the hope he
Speaker 2: gives and his displays of beauty in springtime. As you
Speaker 2: rest and dream, may the stirrings of springtime begin within,
Speaker 2: and may dreams and hopes that have laid dormant reach
Speaker 2: toward the light. May you have grace for the process
Speaker 2: of rebirth, and may your blossomy be an offering to
Speaker 2: the one who adores you. May your fruitfulness be bound
Speaker 2: to full like a tree planted by waters. The song
Speaker 2: of the turtle dove calls for the blessings of spring
Speaker 2: to arrive on your behalf. Rest well