Promise

Last week there was snow in every state except Hawaii and it might have been snowing there but no one noticed cause they are all so busy hula dancing and comparing belly buttons. Our capitol was snowed under nearly three feet of snow, bringing new meaning to the phrase, "The wheels of government move slowly." It has been a cold grey winter even here in the sunny South.

So it was with surprise that I noticed sprouting from beneath the fall leaves that we still haven't raked (oops....when did we forget to do that?) the daffodil shoots. I was scurrying by with 10 bags of groceries and one was ripped like it always is and I was running like Groucho Marx low to the ground so I could balance the soon to spill contents on my knees... when I almost missed them. In fact, at first I did miss them though I saw them. I noted them in a distracted corner of my brain but sprinted by, slammed through the door, scattered the groceries with a whoosh onto the counter and said, "whew."
All the bags safely in again in one trip, no eggs rolling down the sidewalk, and I think I remembered to close the car door.

Or did I?

And so of course I have to go out and check and as I walk outside my brain is nagging me to remember something, and then I remember the daffodils. Finally I pause and look at them, surprised. Spring always takes me by surprise.

In the grocery store I had seen all the Peeps and chocolate eggs as I was hurrying to find milk, and I briefly thought surely Easter is not almost here... is it? And when I stepped out to my car, I saw a flock of robins, and I realized that even without my coat, I was not shivering. A week ago I had seen bluebirds, but it was still so cold out that it didn't occur to me that I hadn't seen bluebirds since the summer. I thought it was just the color all frozen birds attain.

And then -those daffodil stalks, just starting but reaching above the leaves we never raked from the garden. (I use the term "garden" with a bit of literary license- it might more accurately be pictured in your mind as dead leaves which cover the potential of a garden should anyone with a green thumb happen to move in to our home.)

I love surprises. Blessed with a wretched memory, almost every fact of course is a surprise for me, but the surprise of Spring is always a favorite. God usually speaks in whispers, but Spring is His shout-out. I don't think He could be saying any louder or clearer, "Hang in there all you frozen worms! The thaw is coming!" How more eloquent could He be than to follow the dark, dreary, cold of a lifeless winter with the sudden profusion of birds singing, flowers budding, tree limbs greening, and tax returns mailing?

It was of course no accident Jesus was crucified and rose again, taking on Himself the penalty of all sin for all time, in the spring. Rebirth and renewal is grabbing us all by the throat and shaking the snowdrifts from our chilled souls. It is not the end! It ain't over even after the fat lady sings! It is never the end! Don't lose heart, don't give up! The daffodils are poking out again from under the leaves, and a Promise is echoing throughout the Earth.

Psalm 85:11
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.