Books and poems that have been written about Spring are too numerous to count. When Spring arrives it’s fresh air, new beginnings, or going to the pharmacy for another box of Claritin. My feelings have been coming in waves. This year I am not sure when “Spring thoughts” began. Maybe it was in Texas last month when I wanted to see the Blue Bonnets and Indian Paint Brush. I saw them for the first time in my early twenties during my first assignment out of college at the University of Texas in Austin. The Texas Hill Country at the end of March or early April brings in fields of these beautiful flowers. Since living there I keep memories alive by buying watercolors and postcards with fields of brilliant blues and reds. A few weeks ago, when I was in Texas to see my new grandson, I prayed that The Lord would allow me to see this once again. I was staying in Dallas and it was not going to happen in that city. As plans changed,I made a trip out of town and my prayers were answered driving down the interstate. Who would have thought? It seemed like a simple prayer, like Lord help me find a parking place. We know we will not lose our faith if this doesn’t happen, but when it does we stop and take notice. Thank you Lord for this answer and for letting Spring begin in my heart.

Spring is evident in Virginia with the dogwoods,tulips and forsythia in full bloom. I even went to the store yesterday to buy bright red geraniums to put in clay pots on our patio. If I remember to water them,I can usually be successful to keep them alive.

Thirty-three years ago Bill and I were driving down John Tyler Highway from Richmond to Williamsburg in our 1980 blue Monte Carlo. We had been driving for three days from Lubbock, Texas and were being assigned to come live in Williamsburg. On that drive I remember the canopy of trees that hovered over our car and had leaves of brilliant lime green. I know that most trees have new leaves but I had never seen these bright colors. Every Spring for the last three decades I never fail to remember that drive with the two of us,28 years old,driving into a place we did not know. Where we would sleep? Where would we eat? There was no one we knew who would even greet us.

We thought that this stay would only be for three years at most. We could do anything for three years. Little did we know the plans The Lord had as we inched closer and closer to Williamsburg. We could not have known then the people we would meet who would change our lives, the church community that we would love, that our children would be Virginians and that we would live here longer than any other place combined. We kept rolling and The Lord kept leading on a path that we could never plan.

Spring is a reminder of God’s faithfulness in my life. His not my plans or my maneuvering, but God putting me on a road of beautiful lime green trees and saying, ‘I am leading, I am in charge and I love you’. He is whispering to me and I don’t even know if I am aware of this at the time. The whisper is that if we keep rolling, he will unfold Himself to me.

“The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NIV)

Spring is my reminder to keep trusting that The Lord Almighty is faithful and in charge of the roads I will ride in the future. He may whisper. He may shout. I can know that the same faithfulness He has showed me in the past. He will continue to show me in the future. Thank goodness I have not worn Him out and that he is constantly filling me with His wonder as I keep rolling along.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.”Lamentations 3:21-23 (NIV)