Spring

Unless a corn of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:24

The mountain perches on the fine line between winter and spring. The steep forest floor is dotted with tiny green shoots, leaves unfurling like a child peeking out from the covers in early morning to see if it’s time to get up.

Scattered in the gray deadened brambles of last year’s life are empty seed shells. The abandoned homes of winged creatures hang from old milkweed stalks, their occupants long since flown away. Cracked and decaying acorns crunch under my feet as I hike the mountain trail, marveling at the ancient oaks giving me shade. Brave and strong, new peony stalks push their way through moldering leaves. Within their burgundy folds lies the promise of bursting blossoms.

The birds know the splendor of the coming days. They sing spring’s prelude as I walk slow and think deep.

Spring arises out of a season of dying.

God’s creation shouts Truth to us if we are listening. Spring always follows winter. Color always follows the bleak months of brown and gray. Warmth follows freezing cold, and life follows death.#hope #Easter Click To Tweet

The world has been cloaked in winter these past two years, it would seem. A long winter season, where dreams and plans have been buried under the heavy snows of disappointment, a global pandemic, rising prices, war, mental health crises, and displacement. How long will this winter last?

Along the steep forest floor of the world today I see bits of green, popping up with hope, changing the drab landscape. I hear the crunching of old seed pods beneath my feet, evidence of the seeds sown by the faithful that have cracked open and yielded their old form to new life. I see brave and strong stalks of trust pushing their way through the moldering leaves of independence and self-sufficiency, their burgundy folds holding the promise of fragrant new faith and possibility.

God works in the winter seasons. In the unseen places beneath the brambles, He is forging new life, a new season.

Spring is coming. Do you see it?

Lord, thank You for bringing new life out of our winter seasons. I will wait for Your springtime. Amen.

@audreycfrank