Season of Singing

Feels like just yesterday the ground was frozen and the trees were bare.

Like we were counting the days until spring, measuring shadows, and cursing groundhogs.

We were dreaming of warm weather and of sunshine and flipflops.

Spring symbolized hope and new life for us - a chance to come alive again.

And then the snow and ice began to melt. Something we cannot really explain began to thaw the ground under our feet. You could smell change in the air.

We anticipated this change. Yearned for it. This blessing, come in the form of a new season.

So why is it...

that it wasn't really until today that I noticed the green leaves on the trees?

Not that I hadn't enjoyed the warm breezes and the sun on my face.

Not that I hadn't called it spring - worn skirts and gone barefoot and played outside.

But I just hadn't noticed.

And I realize how often this happens. That we sense a need for change. We anticipate change. What we are, who we are, is barren and cold and hibernating.

We want to be shaken. We want to be warm. We want to be alive.

And He begins a work in us. Thawing our hearts. Pushing through our dirt and spreading roots.

We change.

Even if we don't notice right away.

We are different. We are new. And even though the process is slow, steady, and not at all painless... we don't even notice.

Until one day, we see a brand new picture. A horizon, which has been radically transformed.

What was cold and sleeping is now warm and thriving.

We have been touched by the Creator. Awakened.

Take a look... pay attention... He is doing a work in you, whether you notice at first glance or not.

You are being made new.

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land."