Spring is springing forth.

We still have some snow on the ground from the 30 inches that fell in mid February. My Handsome and I went to the mall a couple of days ago and I couldn't believe all the piles and piles of snow in the parking lot. At this rate it is going to be July 4th before it is all gone.

The days are warming up and of course that puts me in the mood to putter around in the yard. Mostly I am looking for any damage from the massive snow storm. Unfortunately my nandina bush looks quite damaged. I don't know if it will survive, only the warming days of spring will reveal that. The azalea bushes look iffy too. Although I planted the varieties that are recommended for our zone, they did not appreciate the cold they had to endure this winter.

Ahhh, Spring. Don't you love snooping around your garden to see what is peeking through? I do. This is the time of year I love to pull back the soggy leaves from fall and see what is emerging. I prune my roses and hydrangeas, I rake off some of the leaves and straw that kept a warm blanket on my flower beds for the winter. I transplant anything that is not happy with its location; that will be one hydrangea bush and an azalea plant if they survived the winter this year.

There is something beautiful about Spring, more than just the bulb plants popping up arrayed in all their gorgeous colors, but something beautiful touches my spirit this time of year. I am always mindful of God's goodness and His salvation; this time of year seems to really drive it home to me, to my very center. Moseying around my garden looking at all the different things pushing their way up out of the earth, seeing the once bare limbs of my hydrangeas and roses, the buds on the trees that seem to one day be just a bud and then before I can say "snap" it unfolds into a leaf, the dry brown grass giving way to a lush green carpet, it all speaks "Life" to me. Everything seems to be waking up from its winter rest. This event, where winter gives way to spring, reminds me that no matter what I am going through there will be a spring. Dark cold days of the soul will give way to the refreshing warm peaceful days of joy again. King Solomon expressed the times and season we experience in Ecclesiastes 3:




To everything there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and
a time to die;
a time to plant, and
a time to pluck up
that which is planted;

A time to kill, and
a time to heal;
a time to break down, and
a time to build up;

A time to weep, and
a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and
a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and
a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and
a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and
a time to lose;
a time to keep, and
a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and
a time to sow;
a time to keep silence, and
a time to speak;

A time to love, and
a time to hate;
a time of war; and
a time of peace.