Spring is Here!
March 28, 2013
Spring is here! Let the flowers bloom, the sun shine and the birds sing! There is and always has been a special feeling about spring. If you are in school, it means peeling off the uncomfortable layers of wintery clothes to run around in the slightly warmer weather. As an adult, it means no more scrap-ing the windshield or shoveling the driveway at all hours.
It could very well be argued that the difference between winter and spring is all in our head, and that the cold and snow is all that separates the two seasons. With the right amount of vitamins and a couple of vacations, you can feel just fine and carry on like a trooper. I tend to believe there is more to it than that. Spring is a sign of life and a way to be reborn, so to speak.
Our church has many events year round that keep us active and anxious to get back through the doors each week. Chili contests, winter festivals and Christmas dinners are all marked on the calendar, breaking the cold weather months up into seemingly smaller portions. But the spring activities seem to be a little more fun, don’t you think? Easter egg hunts allow the kids a chance to run around and squeal with glee. Barbecues are more fun when you don’t have to hurry out of the wind to eat your hot dog. Even the spring clean-up is met with some smiling. Tidying up our field is a sign of rebirth; of what could be. How nice can we make our church home look this year? What new plants will pop up and where? We have a groundhog living on our premises— see if you can spot him this year.
The ―being reborn‖ feeling isn’t just with nature. It’s obvious with church-goers that spring lands at a special time for us. Easter is a time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of all things new. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…" (1 Peter 1:3)
Our services seem to have a little more joyful feel to them. Members come in with brighter colours and a shine in their eyes. The children laugh a little louder and the room feels more alive. How could it not, when we talk of our Lord rising from the dead, beating all the odds and letting nothing stand in His way for us? Christmas is fun and sends the messages of faith and peace with the birth of Jesus. Easter sends not only a message of faith and peace, but also one of hope and happiness. A hope that this year will be the start of something new and fresh in our lives. Maybe our love of God will be renewed or we will find new things to love about Him. Maybe we’ll find new ways that He loves us.
When the dreary grey snow piles finally melt away and the driveways are cleared of any last signs of a harsh winter, take a moment to look around. When those spring ―moments‖ are in front of you, take an extra look to find God and the sign that He is indeed reborn. The lone purple flower in a field of yellow. The kids rolling around on the ground and laughing joyfully. Neighbours talking in their yards over a glass of iced tea. It could be anything at any time that grabs your attention. Stop. Take a deep breath. Bask in the glowing sun and feel reborn. Feel the feeling of rebirth that our Lord Jesus may have felt knowing things could be different this time around. Spring is here indeed!
-Shawn Gibson
|
