I’m so thankful for the first day of Spring! This has been a long Winter with MUCH illness!! I, myself, am recovering and anxious to get back to sitting on some marshmallows. “Say, what??” If you read the last post, “Go Sit On A Marshmallow!” then you will know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t get a chance but would like to join the conversation, you can jump onto the website, beautifulcryinghelp.com and read that story. Then, come on back and let’s talk!

In the last post I left you with a question to think over; “Where would YOU go and what would YOU do to “sit on a marshmallow”? What do you consider to be a restful, innocent, soft place where you can recover from stress or trauma? Did any of you give that some thought? I had to really stretch my brain to come up with an answer to that one. But, searching through my mind and childhood memories, I came up with “floating”! Yup, laying effortlessly upon the surface of the water. I know, it sounds crazy but I LOVE the water! (Fresh water lakes, NOT the ocean! If you read the preceding post, you’ll understand why I say this!) We spent hours and hours swimming and floating as kids growing up in New England. My mom would have to force us to come out, even when we were shriveled, blue and shivering! That was just a normal part of the experience!

My recent challenge with this new focus was, where could I find some fresh water lakes to swim and float in to begin to recover from a very long stretch of pain and loss? A friend of mine had suggested that I take time to “sit on a marshmallow” after the loss of my mom so I could begin to heal inside. I thought, I prayed, I decided, now I was ready to go! My soft, comforting place would be floating! But, where? I didn’t have time to go traipsing all over New England so I had to put some work into this recovery plan. Sometimes that’s necessary. We decided to begin in Vermont. You can’t go wrong there! Next, I needed to buy a bathing suit. Yes, that was “special”. Not!! I then pinned down an area in Vermont, booked a bed and breakfast for a couple of days and off we went for a long weekend! This was the beginning of searching out clean, fresh water lakes to swim and float in as often as possible. It was a challenge but completely doable if we headed out as soon as my husband came home from work to get in as much daylight as possible.

I can tell you, stepping out on that little piece of friendly advice to go “sit on a marshmallow” was the best soul medicine I could’ve taken to aide in recovery from grief this past year. My hope in sharing this with you is that perhaps you could tuck this elixir away in your mind’s cupboard for when grief or trauma spread through your house. I pray that doesn’t happen but I think these difficult times come to all of us as we traverse through this life. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us that there are seasons that we will all go through. A time for everything.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Eccl.3:1-8

So, it’s ok. It’s natural. Just like we are leaving one season here in New England, we are headed into another. This is one of the beautiful attractions of New England. We have 4 unique seasons. My favorite is Spring, next is Fall. My least favorite is Summer. A lot of people say Winter bothers them the most. I happen to love the snow so for me, it’s ok! I must say though, the older I get, the more the cold and grey bother me. (For more of a look at the awful color, grey, check out “It’s So Grey Today”. I know you’ll understand my dislike better after you read that piece. You may end up in total agreement!) I now count the days until “Spring” arrives. Today, I can stop the count for 2017! Woohoo!

When we are in a season in life that we love, we want it to go on and on without end. I understand! But when we are in that uncomfortable season or one that is filled with pressure and pain, we want it to end, abruptly! But just like the “Law of Gravity” that God put into place, He also put in “Sowing and Reaping”. That involves seasons. You may have heard it as seed time and harvest. This speaks of natural things but it is also applicable to decisions made and the consequences that are produced because of those choices. Think about that for a minute. It is such an encouragement to know that God is a comforter and strength for us when we suffer and feel weak. My friend’s advice to “Go sit on a marshmallow” was an answer to prayer for me when I asked the Lord to show me how to recover and heal after a long season of painful circumstances and situations. Like many of us here in New England, I was anxious for this cold, grey season in my life to end and a sunnier, brighter one to begin. I just didn’t know how to transition.

So, off to the water we went, Spring, Summer and Fall of this past year. It! Was! AWESOME!! In my next post I’ll tell you about some of our adventures as we mistakenly wandered into an area where swimsuits were “optional”(We scurried outta there at breakneck speed), found a leak in our little plastic boat while out in the middle of a lake(“Every man for himself!”), and eventually came to the point where it was necessary to try to teach my husband to swim. May I kindly say, Im not sure I’ve ever laughed so hard in my entire life! Some absolutely hilarious moments! You know what? I NEEDED that! These were the moments I experienced while “sitting on my marshmallows”. Some “marshmallows” were so very peaceful allowing me to rest, while others were cause for great hilarity and teasing laughter. But, as I said, it was all needed medicine for the soul. Am I feeling all better and totally recovered? No, not really, but it’s a process. I still have many days that seem grey and “way too cold”, causing me to curl up inside. But, I’m learning to make plans and provision for stepping out into brighter, warmer times. To EVERYTHING, there is a season!

I’ll see you back here in the “Peacock Garden” again, soon. I trust the daffodils and crocuses will be up by then! “Happy Spring!”🌸🌼🌺