AWAKENING

The sun sent a long-distance text to the earth yesterday. "Wake up!"

Mike and I were out in the yard, talking about landscaping projects and loving the warmth on our backs.

If you were outside yesterday, you might have sensed the text message, too.

We could smell the ground again.

Yellowjackets were slowly moving around and the wrens were singing for joy.

What looked like dead sticks on the bushes began to swell and make buds.

I began to feel that uncontrollable urge to stroll through a plant nursery.

Soon there will be vibrant colors everywhere.

The crabapple...

Japonica...

Forsythia...

And the poor old trees in Fayetteville that broke off during the ice storm of 2008...will cover their brokenness with lush green leaves.

Unpredictable spring weather will be part of the package, too. Mark Twain says in the spring he

has counted 136 different kinds of weather inside

"four and twenty" hours. That wildness seems like pushback against the transition.

The Almighty is faithful to bring the earth back to life every year. Spring is a picture book for us. It is His kind reminder of life's most important lesson...there is life after death.

Thank you, Lord, for Spring.

"And the one sitting on the throne said, 'Look, I am making all things new!' And then he said to me, 'Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.'" Revelation 21.5 NLT