Tulips, daffodils, crocus and tiny new leaves on bare tree branches.  All the signs of spring and I am reveling in the unseasonably warm weather.  Yesterday I opened the windows of the house and last evening as I was washing the dishes I enjoyed the cool breeze wafting in through the open kitchen window.  It certainly enhanced my dish washing experience. 

I have loved spring since I was a little girl.  I loved seeing the brown grass turn green, the branches of the trees sprout new leaves, and the pansies reveal their smiling little faces.  But I especially loved seeing the tulips and daffodils poke their leaves up through the dirt and watching all the bright colors burst forth.  I lived in Holland, Michigan for a while as a child and the city takes its tulips seriously.  Bright swaths of tulips enveloped the city in the spring. 

My sisters front yard in Colorado is lined on both sides with lilac bushes.  When I lived near her I loved to pull up to her house in the spring.  As I stepped out of the car  when the lilacs were in bloom, my olfactory senses were entirely overwhelmed as my whole body was enveloped in the scent of lilacs.  

Last fall we moved into a house with an old lilac bush at the corner of the drive way.  The lilac bush was over grown and taking over the drive way.   I drive an old car, which I absolutely love, and I didn’t want the paint scratched.  Thank goodness for husbands…..he took the cutters and cut the abundant branches off the one side.  Now that it is spring and I can see just a few new leaves of growth on the lilac bush, my annoyance is gone and I can’t wait for the blooms to appear…..you will definitely find me standing next to the tree inhaling the scent of those beautiful flowers. 

John 15:5 says, “I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who live in me while I live in them will produce a lot of fruit. But you can’t produce anything without me.”  I think sometimes we view Christianity and abiding in Christ as unattractive as a tree without its leaves.  Just kind of boring.  But when we abide in Christ, He sends forth the new leaves and creates the fruit in our lives.  With the fruit of Christ in our lives others will be drawn to us like I am to the lilac bush.    Daily God  shares His love with us, His joy, His kindness.  It is up to us to take those fruits and share them with others. 

 When I lived in Alaska our house was ten miles and a twenty minute drive outside of town.   I saw  many interesting things on my way to and from town.  Once I counted a hundred eagles perched in a group of trees along side the road, that was a one time experience.  Sometimes all I saw was black darkness with snow hitting the windshield and swirling around the vehicle….I saw that more often that I would have liked.  Sometimes I saw the most beautiful sunrises….the foggy clouds over the bay would be alive with color as if they were on fire.  Sometimes I didn’t see anything but fog, we went for a week once and couldn’t see across the street the entire time.  Sometimes a good day was just being able to see the bottom half of Mt. Barometer. 

But there was one morning I didn’t see something that a lot of other people in the same place and at the same time that I was did see.    One morning I drove to church, in a hurry as usual with three kids in the back of the mini-van.  I drove past the dumpsters and noticed there were a lot of cars parked there and on the road nearby, but I was in a hurry to arrive to church on time and didn’t pay much attention to what was causing such a stir.  When I arrived to church I had several people ask me if I had seen the bears at the dumpsters out where we lived.  Hmmmmm….no I hadn’t.  But I had seen all the people there.  How could I have missed seeing the bears?  How could I have been so focused on what I thought was important and missed seeing the bears that were probably 50 feet if that from me?  I was really annoyed with myself because it was the only opportunity I had to see bears like that.  I lived in Alaska ten years and never saw a bear, despite them occasionally wandering our neighborhood. 

Isn’t life sometimes like that?  Even our spiritual lives?  We get so focused on the goal or the end objective that we miss things along the way?  Many times I think that we miss things God has for us on the way to reaching goals because we have tunnel vision on the finish line. 

So here’s my sage advice based on my life experience: Having goals and objectives is a good thing.  But don’t miss the magical moments and opportunities along the way because, after all, the journey is the goal.

I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith.  2 Timothy 4:7 God’s Word Translation