The other night my husband said that he was looking forward to the Spring and that he loves that time of year so much (probably having been a farmer makes that time of year even sweeter). I also love the spring: love planting seeds and watching them come up, the smell of freshly mown grass, the smell of warm spring rain, the sound of birds singing, the sun coming up earlier in the day, fresh vegeables from the garden ... it's a wonderful time of year that feels like life is new.
But, it wouldn't be as sweet without the chilly nights of winter. I enjoy parts of winter too - the coziness of a warm fire, snuggling under lots of blankets ... and dreaming of the beauty of spring right around the corner. Since I love growing things, winter is a time of some sadness - the plants die back and the coldness makes my joints hurt. hile I love the beauty of snow I feel concerned for the plants that are trying to withstand the freeze and I hope that they come back in the spring.
Life is like that: there are times which are more full of life and energy and growth, and there are times when it feels like everything around is hybernating or dead. But the times of little deaths (death to selfish ways, death to bad habbits, death to bad attitudes ...) make the Spring of our lives so much more beautiful! There are plants that need a freeze to enable them to prouce better flowers, to kill off bugs that would eat the plant. When I went to Cameroon, West Africa years ago they said that since it never freezes there that there are thousands of new viruses each year because it is the perfect breeding ground for viruses. The sometimes painful freeze and dying back of plants can actually protect against things that would cause so much damage.
Sometimes just knowing that the cold and hard winter in our lives is there to produce good in the end makes it easier to walk through.
Spring will come again.
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