As I sit down to share this post it feels a bit like dejavu. Like I have already written these words in years past because it’s likely I have these same thoughts each time this season comes. But that’s how seasons are after all. Spring is coming and so are the changes that it brings.  After a snowy week last week the weekend was warm and begging for us to come on outside. The sound of the table saw whizzing through boards that turned into a beautiful window box, little boys wobbly on longtime hibernating bikes, learning to use a jump rope for the first time and the garden gloves covered with fresh mess were evidence of the day.

I gave the flowers beds a once over glance before diving in and it looked like nothing but brown. Apart from some unruly daffodils that have sprung up in no particular order, the bushes are naked twigs and the once flowering plants are withered and show the wear of winter.  As I knelt and pulled away the dead I saw the new shoots coming up buried below the brush.  As I bent down on the level of the bushes I saw not only dry wood but fresh buds eeking out. I was reminded once again of the need to prune and pull back the old. Those bundles of dead grasses and old blooms serve their purpose to protect during the cold, yet at some point they have to go if the new is going to come. This winter has had it’s share of cold and dry, old blooms in our lives. Dreams that have peaked and tough things that I am ready to toss in the waste. Yet as I do the chilly air meets the new plants and I pray that the new ones will be strong enough to face it. Amazingly they are and day by day I can see their growth.  This year will no doubt be packed with growth and change and as the seasons roll on we will no doubt roll into another Fall and another winter. The faith journey will follow suit and we will go through those times of sharp pruning, upturned soil, new growth, mature fruit often followed by quiet times of quiet hibernation. I love Spring and all that it welcomes! But first comes the pruning. Necessary, delicate and growth-bringing. My Spring heart is revealed, new and ready for what is to come, but shivering every so often as it feels the remnant winter breezes.

This season happens to come at a funny time in the typical foreign service timeline. For those of you in the FS family you know that around 6-8 months you step back and evaluate your new life. This back home post has proven to be no different. The first month are settling in and enjoying the “harvest” so to speak followed by some hunkering down and navigating the new waters. By this point you have your feet solid on the ground, the logistics sorted out, lots of networks springing up but it’s time to really evaluate the depth of what you’ve been cultivating. What are we spending our time, energy, money and life on? What are we looking towards in the future? How are we putting down roots and maintaining relationships that matter? We are in the midst of that pruning season too in addition to spiritual pruning.  Thankfully through these seasons we hold on to the words in the hymn above that remind us that God’s presence cheers and guides us through His faithfulness!