Here in Georgia the flowers are starting to bloom, the weeds are taking over my front yard, and I’m so thankful for a little sunshine. This winter is the longest I can remember. We didn’t get any snow, but we spent countless rainy days inside wishing for a change. As I write this, my cherry tree just outside my window is dotted with pale pink blooms. And I realize, this is the change I dreamed about on all those dark afternoons.
As we look back on a year of the pandemic with its lock downs, quarantines, and social distancing, it feels like Spring in many ways.
We made it through a really, REALLY long winter.
And now, tiny blooms of hope are blossoming.
My husband planted my cherry tree last year as my Mother’s Day gift. I love cherry trees. They lined the driveway of my childhood home and every time I see one it takes me back to someplace cherished and beautiful. But last summer the leaves on my little tree started to wither. Something ate holes through most of them. I noticed more and more dead branches.
It lost its leaves early, like a sigh, giving up after long days of heat and growing in a foreign place. It sat all winter, gray and sticky, lifeless. I thought it died. In the back of my mind I tried to remember where I put my receipt so I could get my money back from the nursery’s 1-year plant “warranty”.
And then, the other day, I saw little bumpy knots dotting its branches. The tiny buds were the first sign of life in months. It survived! Through all the wind and rain, all the dreary days, all the hard, unseen, slow growth. It survived.
And we have survived too. And I know all the dark wintry days weren’t just moments to endure, they were strengthening us. Nourishing with the rain, strengthening in the wind, forcing us to dig deep in the harsh cold.
The winter wasn’t a waste, it was a greenhouse.
And now, we get to see the beautiful blooms God has been growing.
How has God nourished, strengthened, and stretched you this winter? I can’t wait to see the way you bloom!