Spring Has Sprung!

Well, we did it! We survived the long, COLD winter!  Spring has finally sprung in Pittsburgh!  As I write this, I am basking in the glow of having enjoyed a beautiful, sun -filled, seventy degree day.  The sun felt wonderfully WARM on my skin!

In my flower beds, I have yellow daffodils and deep purple hyacinths blooming.  The tulip leaves are breaking through the mud, soon to blossom as well. I like to call them my Easter flowers.  The hyacinths are my absolute favorite though.  The fragrance immediately brings spring to mind.  I recall growing up and having them in the house every year at Easter time.  They speak of Easter more to me than the lily or any other flower.

Every spring, my Easter flowers come up through the ground and bloom.  They remind me of renewal.  Spring is the time when the icy fingers of winter finally loosen their grasp and there is hope.  The ground softens.  The dead grass turns green and grows high after a dose of sun and few good April showers. 

This winter was especially rough in our region.  Bitter cold.  Snow.  Snow.  And then more snow.  Twenty below wind chills are old hat to us now.  Below zero, been there, done that! Let the water faucets drip overnight and add an extra layer!

That’s all (hopefully!) in the past now.  It won’t be long till everything is made new.  Outside it will burst with new life.  Gardens will begin to grow.  Trees will fill out once again with green, shady leaves.  We will be able shed our coats and trade them for short sleeves and flip-flops! How freeing!

Spring is special but Easter makes this season glorious!  We celebrate that Christ has risen! We rejoice that our Redeemer lives!  The tomb was empty. 

This can also be a great opportunity to allow Jesus to renew and free you. If you have gotten bogged down in the mud and muck of life, allow Christ to lift you up like the hyacinth that rests upon its thick and sturdy stem.  If you have been depressed or shut off from the world, allow Jesus to open you up and bloom you like the delicate daffodil.  If you have been hurt and feeling dead inside, allow the Lord to heal you like the tender blades of grass and bring new life to you again.

Jesus can and will do this for you. I have seen renewal in my backyard landscape, in my life, and I have witnessed it in the lives of others.  He can make ALL things new.  Give Christ the opportunity to bring the season of spring and restoration into your heart.  Allow Him to free you to grow and bloom!  Leave winter behind and take hold of His amazing renewal!  

“The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11 (NKJV)

“See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.” Song of Solomon 2:11-12 (NIV)