Spring.

Spring could possibly be my favorite time of year. And I'm going to take a few lines to wax poetic about it.

I have loved spring ever since I can remember.
I love waking up on soft spring mornings and standing in the door, looking out at newness of life as both warm and cool breezes envelope me.
I could smell dirt after a gentle rain in the night as the sun's rays gently warmed the tender grass.

The days shake off winter's chill and become slowly and steadily wrapped in a quiet warmth which fades with the glowing sun as it sinks into the west. And then the moon comes into vision and clouds roll over the sky as stars burst and shine.

Deep in the distance the skies let out low rolls of thunder and the heavens pour out cleansing rain to water earth which has long been sleeping.

As spring creeps closer to summer, the tree branches release tiny buds and the flowers and seeds long at rest awake and break from the ground.

I love spring.

And while most people focus on how amazing summer is, spring has captured my heart.

What most people don't understand is that spring is the crucial launching pad to summer. For months the harsh bitterness of winter has reigned as the earth and all those things living on it have spent the months at rest. Trees reluctantly shed their leaves to become bare and flowers slowly recede back into a deathlike slumber as blankets of snow fall and cover sleeping grasses.

And then most people have the general misconception of the gentle subtlety of spring. They see the pale pink buds of Japanese cherry blossoms or the small blooms of crocuses or a tightly closed tulip and assume that spring is a gentle kiss on the forehead after a long dark night.

But what is happening inside those trees and underneath the ground is an explosion of growth...we only see that growth which breaks through the surface of the earth and graces us with its presence.

But I've found something similar happen within myself.

In light of a chaotic and harsh winter, literally in regards to the weather, and metaphorically in my life and within myself, I have found myself that spring, indeed, has also come.

I have found that I have grown, in my thoughts and in my heart. I have escaped the bitter bareness of December and have slipped into the gentle rains of April.

Some of the change within my soul has broken the surface. I have a love for people and an appreciation for them. I have grown out of my selfish ways and have found great purpose and meaning in helping others and putting their needs above my own.

There is a duality present in nature: there is great fragility, but even greater strength. And in these times of intense growth I have thought myself fragile and vulnerable, only to be awakened to my strength in Christ and his Divine ability to see me through.

Growth can also often be painful. It can seem difficult. We are forced to release that which is dead and pluck away any unproductive growth. And then we have to heal. We have to develop and create. We have to prepare for new growth. Like a tree, branches and limbs must be strengthened and new ones formed to support the great harvest of fruit. This is the destiny of any seed...to grow up and become the mighty tree that was patterned into its DNA

And that's truth for us also. We have to grow. If we are not growing, we are decaying into death. Unproductive growth must be cut off and the dead layers from years past must be cast off. And then we must heal. We must strengthen ourselves to support all the capacity we were designed to handle.

Finally, after the gentle rains have watered our roots, after a warm sun has shaken away winters chill and after the ground has surrendered all nutrients for our strength, then we are finally prepared for the intensity of summer and harvest.

I enjoy the glorious quiet strength of spring. That which is around me...but even more, the spring within.