Spring

Some of our beautiful spring crocuses

Just lately I have been noticing the signs of Spring.  There has been rain instead of snow, and the sun shines longer and warmer.  Birds are singing a lot, lawns are starting to turn green, the trees and rose bushes are getting ready to put leaves on, and we have beautiful crocuses growing near our mailbox.

Of course, there are also allergies, and wasps, and weeds.  There is a lot of outside work to do, and not all of it is enjoyable.  However, Spring is so beautiful, and is a good reminder that there are new beginnings, that cold and dark will eventually turn to warmth and light.  There is opposition in everything.  Good and bad to be found.  But in Spring, even while sneezing, pulling weeds, and hunting wasps, it is easier for me to feel that good wins, and that light always overcomes darkness.

Hope for the Broken Hearted

picture from lds.org

One Monday when I was coming home from the allergist, there was a discussion on the radio about loss, and grief.  A man called in to tell his story, and my heart broke for him, because I do not believe the good people he talked to had the answers he needed, even though they were kind, and wanted to help.  There is doctrine in the restored church of Jesus Christ that is not had by other wonderful Christian people.

The man told of how he had come to believe in Christ late in life, his boys were mostly grown, and one of them had died in an accident without ever having shown evidence of having come to know Jesus.  He cried, telling the people on the program that heaven would not be heaven for him if his son could not be there, and he feared, from what he had been taught, that his son was forever lost.  Doomed to be sent to hell, and separated from his Dad, for not having accepted Jesus -- though it sounded like this son really hadn't had the opportunity to know Jesus during this life.

I wanted to send him some missionaries.  But barring that, I wanted to tell him that the gospel of Jesus Christ is, above all things, a gospel of hope, and love, and families.  It is also a gospel that allows for agency, and his son will have to choose, but I believe his son will still be taught, and still have the chance to accept and know His Savior.  The situation is not hopeless, and there is a chance for their family still.  With Jesus there is hope for the broken hearted.

**This is another unfinished post I found in my drafts and finished up.

A Field Trip to Spring

I am sure that most of us have heard that we are supposed to live in the moment.  To be present now, in whatever we are doing.  But just occasionally, on a gray day, I like to take a field trip to Spring.  How?  Well, there are a few ways.

Sometimes I am at Walmart, and I just look at the tulips and the clothing that is sporting Spring colors.  These things remind me of the sunny, green days that are ahead.

Other times I think of my garden.  What needs to be done to prepare the garden for planting?  What will I choose to plant this year?  Will the birds be singing while I'm at work outside?

And then there is my philosophy that I can have a "Spring attitude".  An attitude of renewal, of the chance to begin again, and of hope of good things to come.  I can smile, and bring that lift to others that Spring flowers bring to me.  I can remember that rain brings growth, and clouds don't block the sun forever.

So, on days when winter feels long and gloomy, try to take a field trip to Spring, and for a few minutes you may feel the sun shining just for you.