SPRING IS ALMOST HERE
Welcome to the first glimpses of spring for this year!
If you’ve been watching the daffodils in bloom, and if you observed the crocus peaking out of the ground over the last few weeks (as well as many early-blooming fruit trees) you already know what is happening.
It just becomes official on the 20th of March.
Spring has already arrived in our hearts.
ARRIVAL OF NEWNESS
Since a beautiful Spring is spreading through our land; let’s turn a page and step into some new and exciting things together.
Let’s stop, pause, drink in the fresh air; and look around to enjoy the newest scenery of our lives in this community.
Don’t you love the fresh breath of air that each spring brings to the earth?
I think of the verses from The Song of Solomon, Chapter 2; “My beloved calls to me, “Arise my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one. For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in the countryside, the season of singing has come, and the cooing of the turtledoves is heard in our land.”
Such a lovely invitation; as our Beloved sends out His Word and beacons us to enjoy the season with Him.
Life always takes on a fresh new aspect with the changing of the seasons from winter to spring.
SPRING IN THE SOUTH
Here in the South, the privet is blooming and the pollen is flowing heavily through the air.
People are washing cars and dusting off their patio furniture and planting flowers in brightly colored pots.
Some places are carpeted with little pink petals, and some walkways are lined with bright cheerful blooms that are popping their heads out to say “hello” to this new season.
Our tulip tree is blooming!
EVERYTHING IS FRESH AND NEW
With the coming of spring, one gets the feeling that everything about life can be fresh and new again.
Isn’t it amazing that one little season can do this to our attitudes?
I notice this transformation more in the springtime than any other season; maybe because of the observance of The Spring Holy Days and the remembering that we do which brings us a special sense of security and hope.
Isn’t that the hope of every bride?
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST GREETS THE SEASON
Surely the Bride of Christ gets an extra dose of anticipation with each springtime’s glorious arrival.
This winter, like several before, has been hard and full of political turmoil and critical national changes. We’ve again been bombarded with more and more of the never-ending tragic news of a world in transition, sometimes for days at a time.
Aren’t we all ready for a break from the constant bombardment of the negative facts of the ever-changing modern world and all of the harsh realities that sometimes go along with it?
Spring seems to lift and erase the tragedies of humanity away. It brings the hope of Messiah returning to set things right.
HOPE OF MESSIAH
With the coming of spring, everything around us seems to soften up a bit.
Harsh faces crinkle with laughter again.
Hard steel eyes light up and wrinkled old faces smile.
People’s attitudes perk up and sometimes even un-neighborly neighbors are more friendly.
Don’t you love how that happens?
How could anyone look at the changing landscape across America right now and frown?
How could anyone feel the warmer air blow across their face and not rejoice?
A TIME OF JOY
The beautiful spacious skies are now their bluest blues.
Our amber fields of grain turn to lovely shades of vivid greens.
The Great Artist From Heaven has been busy!
Each spring brings its own unique form of loveliness.
Everything everywhere stands up and speaks of hope, from the pretty new flowers to the cheerful colors of the blossoming fruit trees.
Adar brings it’s joy!
There is a warm breeze blowing through the valleys and the mountain streams are full and flowing.
Springtime is taking away winter’s chill and getting all of us ready for more down-time and summer vacations.
DANCE INTO THE SEASON
So come and dance into the newest season of Spring with The IN SEASON Lifestyle Community.
This is not to make light of the tragedies the last of winter gave us. Some of us (from Alabama) desperately need a fresh new blessing of hope and change after a terrible tornado season.
Others have spotted evidence of still a little snow in the air; yet, all of us are holding out for the hope that when Spring becomes official on the 20th, the world as we know it now will be renewed and refreshed.
Some of these bitter winter things will fade and become less evident.
Many will still have a hard time recovering from the last of this winter. Our prayers are with those tender hearts, and our cares go out to them.
COMFORT FOR THE GRIEVING
It is our hope that spring will bring comfort and help those who may need a smile through their tears. New life will bring new hope to those who have lost loved ones this past year.
So; let’s get some happy renewals going on; let’s step into this spring with renewed vigor and anticipation.
Let’s thank our Creator for all the beauty and warmth of the sun and let’s ponder the wonders of His Holy Seasons.
Who else could do the impossible task of lifting our hearts up again?
A SEASON OF WONDER
Every spring brings new life and “life, life and more life” is the best reason of all to celebrate and rejoice.
How ironic that new life comes to us in the tragedy of the death of our loved ones. It doesn’t at first glimpse seem fair; but on second glimpse; we know that the circle of life must continue and thrive for those who are left behind.
One way to celebrate spring’s arrival is to stop and remember the things that we are most grateful for. We will remember and be ever grateful for having those precious souls with us for the time that we were able to borrow them from Heaven.
We are ever-grateful for our memories.
A SEASON OF GRATITUDE
Can you not look back over those memories of spring times in your life and think of things that always made you smile?
I hope so.
It is so comforting to know the things that always made us smile. Many of them came to us in the time of spring.
Personally; I have some wonderful memories of growing up on a farm and watching the season of spring come to cheer up the land at the end of every brown and bleak winter.
No matter what the winter had brought our way the spring seemed to be God’s way of saying to us “Look up child and find the destiny I still have for you.”
Spring on the farm was so busy!
Chicks were popping their little heads out of eggs, and birds were busy building their nests. Baby calves and foals were being born. The ground was being turned and prepared for fresh new crops with hopes for a bountiful harvesting season.
PLANTING FOR A GOOD HARVEST
Most of all; I think I loved the feelings of anticipation that spring always brought back to us. We planted our gardens and fields with great care and much anticipation.
Farmers were once again hopeful and anticipating a good harvest.
Children were anticipating school ending; adults were anticipating nice long summer nights and sweet family gatherings and vacations.
TIME FOR SPRING CLEANING
The houses always got their spring cleanings; and everything seemed to take on a pure, clean, wholesome feeling of renewal.
How I loved the “freshness” of it all!
At the farm we didn’t throw things away when they were old and dingy; we simply polished them up again until they looked like new. We cleaned them up and made them useful for yet another busy year.
God will do that with all of us; come spring. I can feel it in the air.
Back then; there was always this great transformation continuously going on during every spring.
TRANSFORMATION OF OLD TO NEW
Old things became transformed again. It was as if they were all changed into new things.
All of a sudden you began to see these drastic changes taking place. What seemed in disrepair and ruin began to be useful and purposeful again.
This happens in our lives too. We take a beating sometimes; but we can be renewed and begin again and see new purposes accomplished if we just wait for the time of spring.
Even countries can be renewed!
That is my earnest prayer for America this Spring.
With life on the farm, things would only happen in increments. It was a fairly slow and steady process; one item at a time; but suddenly It all became so noticeable. The healing power of spring came forth.
The people noticed, the animals noticed, and the land noticed.
They noticed the renewal of the life processes from God’s grace and saw that the impossible hope of spring had arrived again; just like clockwork. Never too early; never too late, always right on time.
GOD’S TIME PREVAILS
God’s timing is so different than ours. We often do not know when and how to expect it.
Now The Great Timekeeper has wound his watch again, and the great miracle of spring has reappeared everywhere.
Everyone and everything seems to be watching and paying close attention with wide-open eyes and listening ears; as if they all were big grizzly bears who were finally coming out of a long winter hibernation.
Many souls are finally realizing that there is still so much more life to be living.
Springtime memories comfort my soul and give me hope in knowing that life goes on and seasons change and heal us.
RECALLING MEMORIES OF SPRING BLESSINGS
The spring family gatherings we shared at the farm were so wonderful!
I have so many vivid memories and even some cherished old photos to remind me of how those spring times at the farm were blessed.
I love that I got to share those years of my life with my family on the family farm. The farming days are over now; but those memories will linger forever.
There are priceless memories of how my Mom’s tables were always so beautiful. Her cooking was delicious.
Each new harvest brought its own delight.
The time we all shared together as we enjoyed the carefully preserved bounty and abundance was very well spent.
We typically canned tomatoes and froze green beans and corn in the springtime.
There were bushels of fresh, green vegetables, squash and cucumbers on the table to preserve and enjoy.
The cattle raised on the farm made our feasts affordable and abundant. It was amazing.
CHERISH YOUR OWN MEMORIES OF SPRING
I’ll just bet you have some similar memories of things that happened in the spring times of your own life. They may be a bit different than mine; but you have them just the same.
Did you live on a farm or do you have wonderful memories of the community that develops within the city life?
Both sides of life have their own advantages.
Rich memories can be stored up wherever grateful hearts are gathered to celebrate a new season.
Hold on to them and cherish them.
TELL YOUR OWN SPRINGTIME STORIES
Tell their stories to your children and grandchildren.
We each have been given times that will never be again and those times were meant to be shared and passed down from generation to generation.
Let each generation be faithful to do its part.
Such beautiful memories are something precious to pull out of the corners of your mind when the world feels just a bit too fast and too busy and too overwhelming.
It is okay to slow down for awhile.
Just slow down, take a deep breath, and remember all of the springs that have past.
Just the memories will change your day and your mood and make you feel grateful once again.
You will find yourself smiling; and maybe even singing.
MAKE NEW SPRING MEMORIES TOO
As much as I’ve enjoyed these old memories of which I speak; I am also very grateful for the memories we are still presently making in our current home.
Let not one moment be wasted.
Not one present blessing should be overlooked or neglected because of distraction or temporary sadness, or the colors of our temporary circumstances for the moment.
We have food in abundance.
God has provided our shelter.
We have all that we need to gather together with family and friends and thank God for putting up with us and loving us so much as to bless us with each other and another beautiful season of life.
Our long winter is over!
SHARE THE BLESSINGS
We have enough to share with those who were just the same as us only a few days ago.
Let us do so quietly, with kindness, grace and affection.
With each Spring our hearts awaken to the fact that we have SO MUCH abundance in all that truly matters.
I’m especially thankful for the seasonal changes that spring brings to our humble little castle where love abounds. It may not be a huge, spreading farm; but it is a home full of love.
I’ve always said that any home can be a castle if love lives there and its owners are paying attention to God’s best ways.
Our castle is going through the empty-nest years; but the funny thing about that is, for some reason our family just keeps growing; and the house is very rarely ever empty!
BLESSINGS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Why are we surprised to know this?
We are so happy with our grown kids, their spouses and our grandchildren. Each one of them has brought a different set of blessings into our days. It has been amazing watching them make their own life choices. It has been even more amazing to see them caring and reaching out to others in need.
They have not been spoiled. These now grown children can still remember the times when they were the ones in need; and how grateful we all were when a storm took away our home at the farm.
Our hearts were able to recognize that it was simply a building that was gone; not the memories that would last forever.
They could not be destroyed.
The “gone” part was just a structure that could be rebuilt. We felt the miracle of knowing that we were all still together and where-ever we were was home for the moment.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART LIVES
Our hearts go out to those who are still going through such times this spring. We hope that they will recover and that their hearts will one day again remember the delights of springtime too.
Everything heals in time; but it doesn’t seem possible when you are first wounded.
Healing is not the same as when you had never been wounded at all; and wounds turn into scars that tell stories of our past.
Each new season brings something that turns these scars into stars and helps us to see heaven again.
FROM SCARS TO STARS
Spring, and all that we remember in spring, brings yet another time for being grateful and celebrating family and friends; those who are still with us as well as those who have gone ahead of us.
Our little family gatherings that come in the springtime remind us of how grateful we are for our past memories, and also how appreciative we are of the moments of life which we are living out right now.
Life goes on.
WITH SPRINGTIME THE MIRACLE OF LIFE GOES ON
There is also that exciting aspect of anticipation while daring to look ahead to the future springs that will take place in another day.
What will our grandchildren do with their lives?
What amazing people will they become?
How can we be a part of contributing to their character and their life choices?
Prayer seems to be the most certain answer.
We can see God at work in their days every day. What a blessing to be allowed to participate in this season of life.
With Spring; we begin to feel all of the hope that the changing season brings to us.
Each person in their own unique way celebrates the wonders of springtime and starts to do the little things that they do which truly make them who they are.
God has a spring destiny for each of us.
Families gather.
Friends gather.
Wonderful things are set in motion to come together in beautiful ways.
This is the beauty of relationships that spring brings to us.
NEW PRAYER FOR A NEW SEASON
Today I am sending up a fresh new prayer, that this season is glorious for you, and full of love and laughter and fun.
I pray that God will bless you all abundantly.
It is our constant hope that The IN SEASON Lifestyle blog can always play a tiny part in your day and the celebration of your spring happiness.
Look forward to some fresh and exciting new articles this season.