Spring in our steps with GodbyMissy MartensMay 18, 2020
The groundhog never saw this one coming. Longest. Winter. Ever. I live in Wisconsin; we Midwesterners are used to being stuck inside over the winter months, but the emergence of warm weather is usually our time to come out of hibernation, stretch our legs, enjoy the beautiful sunshine, dig in the dirt, grill out, and gather around the bonfire. Not this year. We are still stuck . . . not gathering, not playing spring sports, not attending graduation parties, not traveling outside of our cities. All of this makes it seem like the White Witch has come out of the wardrobe from Narnia to plague a new world.
During a normal winter, what do we cling to? We cling to the fact that spring will come again. Hope in the future. Every year spring has come, and though…
On a hot July afternoon in 1967 Joni’s life would change. Joni and her sister went swimming on the Chesapeake bay. She climbed onto a raft anchored off shore, stood on the edge and jumped into the water. The water was merky and she hadn’t checked the depth. She hit her head on something hard, her neck snapped back, and she felt a strange electric shock in her back. Joni became a quadriplegic on that hot July afternoon.
Joni fell into a deep depression, she became angry with God, asking “why”, “am I being punished”, ” did I do something wrong”. Friends and family prayed around the clock. She spent a year in the hospital, and angry. However, soon she began to feel a difference in her feelings, thoughts and attitude. She began asking “why” with a searching heart.
In her booklet Hope ……..The best of Things (2008, Crossway Books).
Momentary Lapse Of Sanity 