Nature As Teacher

I am so spoiled by our Texas weather. On Sunday I was sitting out on my patio basking in the sun and for the past two days, I've been layered for the bitter cold. The great thing about Texas is the cold doesn't stick around too long. Before we know it, the sun returns from his sabbatical and ushers in warmth like a loving embrace from an old friend back from a long trip. I began turning my thoughts to spring. Honestly, I think it's my favorite season. I love the crispness in the air of new beginnings as winter fades and begins to hibernate till it's his turn again. I love the sweet smell of the blossoms in the flowering trees and the return of the green leaves. It's amazing to watch a different version of life come back. Not that winter isn't life, it's just different. Sometimes actually, I feel a little bad for giving winter such a bad rap. It serves it's purpose and honestly winter can be beautiful. It's like I said it's not that it's bad it's just different, it's a season. 

I began to realize that life can be like that sometimes. When it's hard, when it hurts, when we're struggling...well, it can feel a lot like winter. It's cold. It's desolate. It's barren like the trees without the life of their leaves. But remember friends, there is beauty in winter. Winter is before the life of spring. Winter is a time of preparation. Winter is a time to slow down and allow ourselves to be pruned so that when it's spring's turn, we bring even more life than we had before. 

Spring really is beautiful. You know what really blows my mind are the wildflowers. How do they get there? Who waters them? Who takes care of them? They bloom in rock crevices, in dry soil, on the side of hills, along streams. What's so amazing is they blossom with so much confidence don't they? Just so proud reaching up to their Father who created them. The most precious thing I find about that is many of them will never be seen. Many wildflowers bloom in the most remote areas and yet they show up so brightly, serving their purpose, proud of who they were created to be. Can we just ponder that for a moment? In our culture, we are taught to praise people for what we "see" them do. We begin to perform as young children for our parents, then we perform as young adults for our peers, then as adults in our jobs, in our personal life. But wildflowers, they just want to serve their creator, they are grateful, they know they are brilliant and if no one ever notices who cares, their Author sees them and He is pleased.

I wonder if we couldn't learn a lesson from the wildflowers? Could we not just show up every day with everything we have and reach up to our loving Father bestowing our beauty just because He created us? I'm wondering if we could maybe have a more grateful posture for just being planted somewhere knowing that our job is simply to point to Him. I'm wondering if we couldn't stop worrying and wondering who will tend us? Our Creator knows all of our needs and just like He provides for the wildflowers, He will provide for you.