“Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.”
Luke 12:27,28a
I’ve noticed this week that a lot of the tulips, daffodils, and irises are beginning to bloom. I especially love the irises, with the wide-open tender petals and the variety of shapes and colors. The irises have me thinking about the power and importance of waiting and anticipation.
Irises are bulb flowers, which means that once they are planted it takes some time for them to bloom. They need to be planted somewhere around October, and to lie dormant in the cool winter ground before they will Spring up in April with all their beauty and glory! But to get to the glory, one must be willing to wait, and anticipate, while the bulb rests in the ground.
We just celebrated the beautiful gift of Christ’s resurrection, but before that Sunday, there was three days of waiting; three days of Jesus Christ, the seed, buried in the ground, before new resurrection-life bloomed from an empty tomb. That in between time, from the cross to the empty tomb means a lot to me each Holy Week. Because I have so often in my life felt like I was in a liminal time, an in-between time, a time of waiting and anticipation.
And now here we are, dear Morehead Family, in a liminal time together. Anticipating a pastoral change and news seasons to come. This Sunday the Staff Parrish Relations Committee will announce who our incoming pastor will be. I invite you to join me in praying for them and their family once the Staff Parrish Relations Committee announces who it is! The congregational care team will also make opportunities for you to send cards to the incoming pastor. Praying and mailing cards are wonderful ways to encourage an incoming pastor until they officially arrive in July!
From announcement Sunday, we will have a two-month period of transition. While transition and unknowns can create anxiety, I hope that our final months together will be full of beautiful worship, discipleship, connection, and positive anticipation. Waiting and anticipation is important, it can be a time of preparing, of dreaming and curiosity, and of trusting the outcome to God. It can also be a time of paying attention to the good things happening as we wait! We had a wonderful Lent and Easter and now we look forward to Mondays in May and Pentecost!
Dear ones, I don’t know all the seeds God has planted for Morehead, what bulbs are in the ground preparing to bloom as you enter a new season with a new pastor, but I trust that it will be good and beautiful. And until then, let’s be present to each other, present to the work of ministry before us, present to our own anticipation and waiting. God is faithful, the bulbs will bloom, and there is so much to learn from the in-between time! I hope this next week, as you see the irises, daffodils, and tulips blooming, you will say a prayer for your incoming pastor, for me, and for your church. I know I will be!
Grace,
Pastor Nikki Raye
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