Bloom

It’s that time of the year (although Spring comes earlier here in the South)!  After the dreary and quietness of the winter, whatever level of weather you experience, it’s the blooms on the barren trees, the daffodils and other bulbs peaking out of the earth, that give us a new spring in our step and hope for warmer days to come.  I always enjoyed our time spent at a special place in Pennsylvania, when we were living up north, called Longwood Gardens.  It was set on nearly 200 acres of “lush, formal gardens, open meadows and winding paths to breathtaking vistas.”  It was a favorite of my mom’s, especially since she knew how to make things bloom.  This tradition of travelling up Route 1 to the town of Kennett Square, even on wintry days, was a road we travelled on many times.  Even in the dead of winter, Longwood was alive with blooms, with literally thousands of poinsettias and more Christmas lights than you could ever count.  The display of flowers during every single season, as you quietly stroll through the gardens and conservatory, would make you ooh & ahh with all that God has created.  My favorite flower is the hyacinth, with their fragrance jostling my senses every time.  How did God create so many beautiful blooms for you and me to enjoy.  I can picture Him sitting in a field of greens with a canvas in front of Him, palette, and paint brush in hand, creating these miracles just for us.  Taking each bloom in His hands, our God carefully and purposely designs each petal.   No matter what the season, we should also not take for granted that we are also blooms – a unique creation that God created.  Each of us are unique, each of us hold our own beauty and every one of us has a purpose to the garden that is God’s design.  Take time this week to smell more than roses.  Pick up a bloom and look at God’s delicate and intricate design that He created for our pleasure.  Let’s not ever take any of His miracles around us for granted.

“The desert and the parched lane will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.” Isaiah 35:1