early spring.

Spring appeared early in our little corner of the world. It happens every year: I get overly zealous when I see little bits of color popping through the parched winter earth. I jump to plant flowers and herbs and tomatoes and trees. Spring! I throw open the windows to let a cool breeze clear the stale air from our cooped up home. I want to breathe fresh life into the ground and into these four walls.

Then, the freeze comes. Every year. I plant in a frenzy and then the cold returns just as quickly as it left. Windows return to their latched positions, the fire roars once again within the hearth and the freshly planted flowering plants wither.

This year was no exception. Even still, I’m making an intentional choice to embrace this last taste of winter. I’m choosing to savor my hot tea sipped in front of a roaring fire with woven blankets covering my toes. I know, soon enough, spring’s sunshine will return and quickly usher in the heat of summer.

I think what I love most about the changing of the seasons are the natural expressions of new grace and fresh mercies. These beautiful reminders everywhere we turn showing us how the bounty of spring always returns after the dreary, and often, desolate winter.

Spring break hasn’t started out the way I had planned. We aren’t outside enjoying the chilly air coupled with warm sunshine. We aren’t meeting up with friends or watching movies in the theater or seeking new adventures. Instead, I’ve been doling out Motrin and Tylenol in abundance attempting to keep these viruses and fevers at bay. I’m now armed with two newly prescribed antibiotics to battle strep throat currently reeking havoc on my boys.

The beauty amidst the chaos remains: we have slowed down. Plans have been canceled, calendars now include much needed white space. We are resting. Oh, how we have all needed rest. After a nonstop couple of months, these sick germs are forcing us all to slow our pace. We are watching silly movies and eating popsicles for lunch. We are snuggling together under blankets and covering foreheads with cold towels.

Although the break isn’t full of exciting stories to go back to school and share, it is exactly what we needed. Well, not exactly. We didn’t need strep throat. But, we did need this time to slow down. I personally needed to savor the sweet moments mixed right in with the hard ones. The quiet of this moment {all of the littles are sleeping – there is grace abounding even when they’re sick}, is so much richer when contrasted to the typical chaos. If it were always calm and quiet and everyone were always sweet and loving, then I wouldn’t stop and breathe in with deep gratitude in moments like this one.

Sometimes, we just need to stop and breathe. Don’t we? Even if the whole crazy world spinning around us keeps on spinning at a breakneck pace, we can step away for a few moments to acknowledge our blessings. They’re always there even if they’re hidden and not quite as obvious. The blessings always remain.