In this season of Spring, those of us who live in Michigan enjoy a grand transition. It has been a long, cold winter, and we look forward to many warm and sunny days.

As I was taking a walk a couple weeks ago, I took notice of how everything in God’s creation was beginning to bud and bloom. It was one of the first warm days. I wore jeans and a light jacket. At the beginning of the long walk, I was a little bit chilled.

I consciously took in very deep breaths through my nose. I wanted to smell that first hint of spring. The air held a bit of the musty brown grass and the cool leaves left over from last fall. I could smell the woody bark on the trees and the dirt in the field was still dormant. Small dirty piles of snow were trying to linger, but the drains along the sidewalk showed a small dark trickle of water as they diminished down into the earth.

Sunshine streamed between every branch and house without hindrance. The trees still seem to hold back. I get the feeling that the trees “know” when they should dare to allow their buds to fully open. It is such a slow process that most years I don’t realize what’s happening. But today, I stopped at a tree, held a baby bud between my fingers and turned it over carefully. It’s now a very tiny red raindrop shaped end which isn’t yet open.

Many people were riding bikes, walking and some were even beginning to groom their yards. An occasional swish of a rake, the scrape of shovel on dirt, and a leaf blower’s long blaring drone met me a couple times. The people seemed to hold the mood of the day in their spirit, as they looked my way and greeted. My dog at my side, sparked the interest of another dog or two, and they either barked or had to be reprimanded by their owners.

There were a few wild flowers bursting forth green and proud out of the ground and a several even dared to show their colors. It is an exciting time of year for those of us who live in Michigan. It is a time of change. The wild flowers do not worry about a possible sleet or snow storm which might still appear. They don’t concern themselves with that. It’s as if they have faith to array their greens, yellows, whites and purples without worry.

When we neared Lake Macatawa, a cool smell of water and ice filled my senses. There are huge ice chunks which break off from the icebergs and winds blow them in and out of the channel. Today a lot of them were resting between the docks with barely any movement to them. It was almost a completely calm day. The sun shone down on the ice, and the ice was fighting it’s final battle with the brightness. I imagined months of spending time at this Marina this summer on hot summer days. I stood there and closed my eyes and soaked it in.

The winds of change will come. Today was a calm bright day which coaxed nature to come out and play. It teased us all if we dared to get out in it. Around here, we know that we will have rainy, windy, cold or even snowy days yet to come before we settle into a routine of consistently warm days.

The sun seemed very hot on my back and my feet hurt on the way back, as Ebony and I finally neared home. We could sit on the deck in the sun and rest and drink water when we got home.

In Luke, the author says that even King Solomon didn’t dress as beautifully as a wild flower blooming in Spring. Wild flowers don’t worry and spin, they have a new beginning in this season.

Each of us can have a new beginning in Christ, and not worry and “spin” as the scripture says in Luke 12:22-31. It says we are more valuable to God than birds, the flowers or the grass. Our Heavenly Father knows each of us, and our daily necessities. Praise God for new beginnings!

A small portion of the verses say this, “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you–you of little faith!”

Prayer: Creator of the earth, I praise you for new beginnings each day and each season.