On the Porch

What is it about a porch setting that calms the spirit?

Is it the peaceful setting, listening to the nature around?

Is it the way it gathers people together to talk and reminisce about days gone by?

Each spring I look forward to the day that I can sit on my front porch and listen to the beautiful symphony that plays each morning.  The whistle of the soft breeze.  The music of the waking birds.  The grass and trees coming to life.  Its symbolic of a new start.  A new day.  A clean slate.

Don't we all wish we could just wipe the slate clean and start over?  Wipe away all the mistakes, all the hardships, the anger, resentment, hurt and frustration that life has given us?  

I think porches give us hope. The quiet setting, the glimpse of yesterdays gone by, and the HOPE of today.  Hope is knowing that you can receive a desire in the future. The possibility of receiving encourages our heart and gives us Hope.   A desire becomes a Hope when we discover a reason for its expectation.  The strength of the reason, determines the strength of the corresponding expectation.  We know what we can have by learning what He has given us, and what He has given us is expressed as promises in the Bible.  The good news of the Gospel is that all the promises of God are a resounding yes through faith in Jesus Christ.  And Hope matured brings us faith.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.

 Jesus is the object of our Hope, and we patiently wait for Him in Faith.  He is the Hope for which we are in Faith.  He is real whether we know it or not.  He becomes a reality to us when we know that He is a reality, and we know He is a reality by the Faith in our hearts.  He does not change – we are the ones who change.  

Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of the Lord.

If you get a chance, sit on the porch.  Take your Bible and a cup of coffee or tea, and listen to the early morning sounds.  Listen to the quiet.  A lot happens in the quiet.   Gods spirit touches your soul.  His breath touches your face, and his voice, that still small voice, can be heard. 

Its a place to hope, in hope our faith grows.