Winter-Spring-Love-Life

Winter is officially over according this year on March 20th. Just a little research on this matter causes my head to spin. I have learned that the arrival of spring has to do with the Northern Hemisphere but do not expect me to explain this please. When I think of winter I think of no leaves on the trees and snow. My best summer memory of winter occurred when I was a youngster growing up. I remember playing basketball on the school playground and the temperature was like 70 plus degrees. When it comes to the worse winter memory I think about the big winter storm that crippled Southeastern Ky back in the late 90’s. One of the reasons I think about trees with no leaves in the winter is because it is a deceiving look. It may appear that things are dead, but that is far from the truth. There is plenty of life underneath the ground, it’s just impossible to see. The only evidence of life would be the evergreen trees. Personally I think they are not the best looking trees I have ever looked at, but certainly against the barren earth in the dead of winter, I think they are quite beautiful as a reminder of life when everything seems dead. Bette Midler in the lyrics The Rose”, wrote all about love and how it was lying in wait beneath the ground. I can easily make the adjustment from her example of love to life. I can really get excited thinking about all the things that are not seen, yet that are real and alive. Beneath the bitter snow often life can give the impression there is no hope, or very little hope for sure. The opposite is the truth. There is hope but we must have faith to believe, understanding, preparation and work to experience the harvest of life. In the song “The Rose” the closing line suggests that if one is willing to wait, allow time to pass, and continue to wait, in time the seed will become a rose. There is much to learn about love and seed planting from the song and life and waiting from experience. In the Bible there are several scriptures that provide us wisdom with respect to all four of these thoughts. When I think about love I think about John 15:13. “no greater love than this, when one lays down their life for another. On the thought of seeds and planting 2 Corinthians 9:6 come to mind. This scripture particularly is very straight forward. If you go about life in a withheld, withdrawn, conservative manner of investing in life, then the results are guaranteed. If you do this sparingly then you will reap the same results. The flip side is also true. If you go about life in a bountiful way, then you can expect that this will be the return you receive. When I think about my years on earth I am ready with an answer immediately as to the results I want to experience. I want the best experience and by my standards that involve me loving others, and having faith in them that believes not only the very best for them, but if the results are just the opposite, my friendship is solid and not going anywhere. My standards include sharing. Spreading seeds I think of as doing good for others and doing a lot of it everywhere. I do not want to be someone that just spreads the seeds in the places that are friendly; I’m familiar with or with people I know, but all people and this will include covering new ground too. Each day you and I have an opportunity to decide how we will interact with folks and how we will respond to situations that present themselves before us. Life is full of many moments and we can set the expectation as to how we view life by what we share and the manner in which we share. As a Christian I have a responsibility to share because of what Jesus has done for me. I want to share however not out of obligation but because I know He is the answer and I want you to know it too. There is a rose in each and every one of us. It is also truth that we might each be living in a different season at the same time. You might be a blooming rose at this very moment or you might be a seed waiting on the arrival of spring. Understanding life is a cycle will not only prepare you for the experiences of life but it will prepare you for the all the different steps you will be taking in the journey too. Until then