hibernating

Springtime in Ohio reminds me of Jackson Pollock's famous paint splatters

Trees in Ohio explode this time of year and flora splatters fuchsias, yellows, pale pinks and acid greens across the landscape like Jackson Pollock covers a canvas. Springtime calls me.

You see, I’ve been hibernating.

It’s true. Like a bear in wintertime, I crawled deep into my cozy cave, snuggled up and enjoyed a long winter’s reprieve. I’ve been doing a lot of refueling and resting. I worked through a study entitled Breathe by Priscilla Shrirer. It was a wonderful study reminding me to slow down in my hectic American scurry, reminding me to savor movies on the couch and marshmallows roasted in the fireplace with my kids. I read through a pile of books on my nightstand I’d been meaning to read for months. I took naps. I made the same meals over and over, soups and pastas and things that made me warm inside. I draped myself in thick sweaters and sipped apple cinnamon tea, and put my playlist on repeat.

Springtime makes me feel like I’m on the brink of something colorful, exhilarating and beyond my imagination.

And it was sweet time. Necessary time. Calming time.

But now? The air smells different. The mornings are crisp and inviting, with a hint of the promise of warm afternoons and fragrant breezes. And that springtime wind stirs something inside of me. Like a bud packed with blossoms ready to burst, I feel like I’m on the brink of something colorful, exhilarating and beyond my imagination. 


Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't' you see it? IS 43:17

Like a bear with a grumbling stomach, I am hungry for what awaits me outside of my familiar nest. I want to throw open the windows, discover a new band, try new recipes and run a new trail. I’m energized by the potential, the promises, the newness each day.

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! 
2 Corinthians 5:17 MSG

I don’t know what waits for me outside my cave. Like a groggy grizzly, I’m sniffing around, deciding if my adventure awaits me to the left or to the right or maybe it’s downward or sideways or above the plain I’m living in. But I know it awaits. And I know God is with me in this journey. And I can’t wait to discover it.

I’m claiming Matthew West’s “Day One” as my current theme song.

How about you? What springtime stirrings are in your heart? Are you ready to wipe the sleep out of your eyes and see what awaits you?