New life

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!" 1 Corinthians 5:17

I have been longing for spring to arrive for several weeks now. For some reason, this winter just seemed to drag on...and on and on and on! So when I woke up this morning to the sound of birds chirping outside my window and caught a glimpse of beautiful blooms as I walked to the kitchen, I took a deep breath and whispered thanks to the Creator of all things new. 
As I sipped my morning coffee, I began to think about spring, and the new life she brings. Spring never comes when I want her to. She is either too early or too late...She never arrives on my time table.  New life seems to work that way. 
All of the broken in me, I want fixed right now. I want the shame, the selfishness, the jealousy, the angry thoughts to be washed away...Pronto!
It doesn't work that way though, does it?! The journey of transformation and redemption is a long one. It takes perseverance on our part, and a lot of hard, dirty work on His part. And it may never come on my time table, but it always comes on His.
I would guess that I would not appreciate spring nearly as much if she wasn't preceded by winter. If we didn't have to sit in the dark and dirty of our sin, would we welcome His redemption with as much joy? Perhaps the journey to redemption is part of the redemption itself. 
This morning, as a thunder storm rolls in, promising to feed the life welling beneath my feet, I will sit in recognition of my brokenness. I will stare it in the face...and then pour out thanksgiving to the One who is making me new.