He makes all things new

Spring is easily my favorite time of year (though it has some serious competition from the fall--changing leaves, crisp air, the scent of wood smoke, and hot apple cider? Come on! You can't beat that!). I love the days that get successively warmer, the birds returning to sing songs of their winter journeys, the sun that seems a little bit brighter each day, and best of all, the emergence of new life! From adorable baby animals to blossoms on the trees to little seedlings poking up to say hello, the wonder of creation coming alive after the dark cold of winter never ceases to leave me in awe.

This year we have had an exceptionally mild winter. I don't remember ever having a winter so free of cold, ice, snow, and freezing rain--as a matter of fact, I think we've had some combination of those every winter for the last several years. This winter has barely seen temperatures barely dip below freezing (which does have me slightly concerned about the mosquito population this summer. They may finally succeed in carrying me off to be their blood sacrifice. Or whatever). As a result, spring is coming early this year! Tulip trees have been blossoming for a couple of weeks, and a couple days ago I spotted trees with tiny, delicate pink blossoms. Oh, and our daffodils have already been peeping at the sun for days!

All of this has me very excited because, for the first time, I am going to make a serious effort at planting a garden. Since I will likely be moving before the end of the growing season, said garden will be in containers. I bought some little violas back in January and yesterday repotted two of them into a window box. And promptly (pre-emptively?) planted radish seeds all down the middle (the violas are at each end). I've never had radishes, so I don't even know whether or not I like them! So I decided to buy a packed of mixed seeds, and I am anxiously awaiting the appearance of little green leaves. Checking the window box at least twice today (it's out on the back deck). Even though I just planted them yesterday and know good and well that nothing has sprouted yet. What can I say? I'm excited! Sometimes I wonder, does God ever get anxious/nervous/excited when He's planted something in us and is just waiting for it to show the first signs of bearing fruit? I am sure I will be much worse when, say, the first green tomatoes and peppers appear. Does He ever get more anxious/nervous/excited when He knows we're growing and ripening and maturing, getting ever closer to who He wants us to be, to being even more like Him?

I placed orders yesterday from two different seed companies (though the seeds I needed to start already I bought on Ebay last week and promptly sent--on accident--to Texas! Always change your Paypal address BEFORE you pay!) and I am super-excitedly-awaiting their arrival. I had the hardest time deciding what varieties--and what vegetables!--I wanted to try as a first time pseudo-serious gardener, even though I was limiting my selection to dwarf and small-plant varieties (to make them easier to move if such a thing happens during the growing season). Maybe I am a little crazy for undertaking this when I know I will be moving, but I am learning to be less concerned about these (relatively safe) risks. If a cautious little turtle refuses to ever come out of its shell, it's not going to see or experience or know very much at all. I refuse to be a little scared turtle keeping my head stuck in my shell. Well, not all the time, at least. Although I think I got the risk-taking department covered somewhat when I packed up my car and moved to Texas last year. Anyway. Mixing up my dirt yesterday, the potting soil and compost and vermiculite and coconut coir was the most glorious feeling, just thinking that something so unassuming and plain and made up of dead things and decomposed things and stuff that would have otherwise been trash (like the coconut hulls used in coco coir) will very soon nourish little seedlings into bigger seedlings into plants that will burst forth in bloom and produce little fruits that will ripen and become big fruits that will feed my family and me. It always amazes me how there is no waste in God's economy.

Spring, spring, spring! I love spring! The time when we celebrate new life and say goodbye to winter and sing, "Hallelujah! He is risen!" May we let it remind us how He takes the ashes of our lives, the dark and broken things, and remakes and reshapes them and gives them life anew.
What has He planted in you? What is just waiting to burst forth, to grow, to give new life and nourishment to others?

What miracles has He done in you?