It has been raining in Austin this Spring. Everything is blooming. Last summer’s long dry heat killed many of our local plants and trees. The plants I purchased last spring that were able to survive the drought are now shooting out new leaves and buds.
I feel pure awe.
The growth I see now has made me realize that they didn’t grow at all last year. Those poor plants were in survival mode. I did my best to water and tend, but there is no substitute for cooler temperatures and heaven’s rain.
My soul fills with this thought. What grace there is in acknowledging the seasons of life. I have had my dry seasons, and I have survived by God’s own great mercy.
So what is this Spring to bring, I wonder?
In Texas we have wildflowers in the Spring. Bluebonnets in particular carpet the sides of the highways and the corners of farmland. Every weekend you will see carloads of families pulled over on the highway taking their pictures right there where people doing community service clean up the trash! It is a phenomenon like no other, honestly.
Bluebonnets just…grow. The places they grow will be ugly charred brown grass after the August heat. But now, in March, they are purple glory.
Just the sight sends hope flying in your heart.
Joy right there on the side of the road.
Joy no one had to buy.
Joy no one had to tend.
Those bluebonnets mean a lot to people this year. Last year instead of rain we had wildfires. Temperatures were in the 100s for weeks and weeks, the lake dried up and is still struggling to refill. Man-made grace in the form of the blessed HVAC probably saved many lives, and certainly kept many people from losing their minds.
Bluebonnets were in short supply in 2011. This year they are springing up from charred earth.
Isn’t that thrilling to the soul?
My soul looks heavenward and awaits the rain of grace that will do the same on the roadsides of my life. The charred earth of my heart has hope in God. There is always a new season. Rain will come and my carpet of joy will grow.
I think I see buds on the branches now. Seeds planted years ago are beginning to bloom.
All I really need is a good rain from heaven and I will be glorious like the Texas roadsides. Just wait and see.