Cicadas
In my part of the world, the Cicadas are present. It's as if the trees themselves are talking to one another, the cicadas have made their home high in the leaves, and are all moving their wings in such a way that leaves you feeling as if some foreign language is crying out upon you. If you were to walk outside you would be bombarded with noise. The noise itself is a bit irritating. Their left-behind shells leave you with an eery feeling and perhaps an insight into what it must have felt like for the Israelites during the plagues that reigned down upon them. As I've been thinking about how loud and irritating these cicadas are, and amid the noise I've been reminded of the breathtaking ways that God forms and shapes my own life. 99% of their lives are spent underground as immature insects, anywhere from 13 to 17 years, let that sink in for a moment. Thirteen to seventeen years to not yet fully formed to growing into who they were destined to be. God has created these c