A Long Winter and The Promise of Spring

            "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; 

I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you 

a heart of flesh.”

(Ezekiel 36:26)

    Every year I dread the months of January and February. I live in the wettest part of Oregon. I don't mind the rain in fall and spring, it is usually light, warm welcome. However, in January and February it is brutal. The rain comes in with a cold driving wind that cuts through any warm clothing. All the leaves are off the trees, and raked away, the flower beds have been winterized and the grey, dark dreariness of the winter wait sets in.

While I slosh through the pouring rain toward the Greenhouse to prepare for the next Spring planting. I choose seeds, pant them in seedling pots and wait. I wait for seeds to grow, wait for winter to pass, wait for the rain to stop and the sun to come out from behind the clouds; I wait.

Every day I check the seedling, adjust the heat, check water and watch for mold or pests. It is a slow process.

I wait.

Maybe I should find ways to enjoy winter, but my heart longs for the warmth of Spring. I know it eventually will come, just as it has every year, but why does it feel like winter is twice as long as Spring and Summer combined?

Then one morning I see it; The first bud, the first leaf, the evidence that Spring is on the way.

In my day to day life, I don't see a lot of change in my habits and behaviors. It feels like I live in an internal winter, waiting for changes in my heart and behaviors. I have my devotions and pray. I do what I can to walk with the Spirit and not carry out the desires that I know come from my flesh (Galatians 5:16), but these behavioral changes are usually skin deep. It's the Spiritual growth that brings the good fruit of Spring.  Every now and then I get a glimmer of good fruit, I see God use my in a way I did not expect, or I get to introduce someone to the Gospel, and they respond. It's in those times that I know God is doing the work He promised. It is the Spiritual fruit of Spring.

The seasons are a great reminder of the consistency and faithfulness of God. The sun, the seasons, the seeds all do exactly what God designed them to do. If God can perfectly design the universe, then He can also change my heart of stone. He will finish the work He started in me the day I chose to follow Him. 

Satan would like me to doubt God's promises, he would like nothing more than for me to live my life in the cold constant winter state of shame, doubt and fear, never believing that God will bring Spring. 

God reminds me to get into the Greenhouse and prepare, because winter will end and Spring is one the way. When I feel that God is not using me, or old habits and failures try to send me into a shame spiral, I need to get to the word and plant seeds, or spend time praying scripture preparing the soil of my heart for new growth. 

Spring is just around the corner.


How to prepare perennial and annual flower beds for the winter months:

1. Dead head any dying flowers or cut down dead foliage.

2.Remove debris or dead leaves before frost time comes. Leave the base of the plant.

3. Keep the ground moist until it freezes over to keep plants alive until hibernation sets in.

4. Apply mulch in late to mid November (old leaves that you have gathered ahead of time works well)

This will protect the plants in the winter months.

5. For annual flower beds remove the dying plant and decide whether to compost or dispose of them.  Add compost to the ground and wait for Spring. 

Hope Wirta

Flowers with Hope and

Hope's Palette

 

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