My journey through January was in a word...."BLURRY".... 

Kim and I thought that the Christmas season was busy. We were blessed to have family from our hometown of Lake Wales , but we also were fortunate to have Kim's sister,Karyn and her husband, Curtis, from Hubbard , Iowa . Kim and Karyn's "preacher" dad blew in from North Florida . He reminds me of a lightning bug (zipping all around very quickly), but sharing the "light" of Jesus to all he meets.  Anyway, they drove about 7 hours, shared Christmas supper and were back on the road the next morning by 7:00am

Of course, MY side of the family is unique also in that they are only twenty minutes from our house and they were in and out just as fast (smile).

So here I am in February, a little late for getting my devotional prepared, but I feel as if I am moving through this life at a very hectic pace.  One of the most under-rated holidays just passed by and I didn't even recognize it...

  Ground Hog day of course!!!

I was thinking "How can I possibly share Jesus and relate a devotional to a ground hog?".

Basically, this "holiday" stems from an ancient belief/folklore that hibernating creatures were able to predict the arrival of spring by their emergence from their "burrows". The Pennslyvania Dutch brought the tradition to the United States in the 18th century. They imported their "Candlemas" tradition commemorating the ritual purification of Mary, forty days after the birth of Jesus.  Candlemas is one of the four cross-quarters of the year occurring halfway between the first day of winter and the first day of spring.  Folklore says that if Candlemas was a sunny day, expect six weeks of cold and stormy weather.  If Candlemas was a snowy or rainy day, expect six weeks of a milder type of weather.  So the groundhog, (Punxsutawney Phil) of eminent fame and notoriety will either come out of his burrow and if he sees his shadow, he will return to his burrow for six weeks of winter (sleep time for Phil).  If he does not sees his shadow, then he remains outside and starts his year since spring has arrived early.

 Genesis 8:22 - The scriptures state " While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat. And summer and winter and day and night shall not cease".

Basically, until the earth is NO LONGER, our seasons, our days and nights will NOT CEASE.  There are days when your life may seem bleak and the storm clouds are moving in, the rains may come, in fact you may be experiencing a terrible storm in your life...your winter may seem cold and even lonely.....remember...Spring is coming, the seasons will not cease!

 One of my favorite scriptures in the bible begins like this..."and it came to pass"....!!!   

Isn't that a great scripture?  In other words, this trial, this difficulty, this concern, this burden is NOT here to STAY....it will pass. We will journey through this difficulty.  Understand this, God has not left your side, He is there for us.  But, we have to draw near to HIM first, then he will draw near to us.

It is interesting to Kim and I regarding our two faithful yellow labs -  Both Samson and Hercules long to be close to us - especially in the evening.  They will both try and get as close to us as possible for the scratch behind the ears or a rub on their tummy. Well, when they get up close to us, we eventually will get out of our recliner or the couch and practically lay down with them...They got close first and we couldn't resist their love and before you know it we are drawing nearer to them.  

That is what Jesus wants all of us to do...Get as close to HIM as we can and because He loves us so much...He will get down on the floor and draw near to us.

Have a great February!

Jeff