“I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’” Hosea 10:12 (NLT)

Several times I have commented on the season of fall and the leaves changing colors and falling. The past couple of days the leaves are no longer dancing, anxious to leave the trees and spiral out and away. The leaves now are falling, floating quietly, almost reluctantly, to land on the blanket of leaves covering our yard.

It is like the trees, knowing that times of frost, cold and snow are approaching and with the leaves gone, there is no covering for the branches. So, they, too, are holding fast to the remaining leaves, hesitantly letting them fall.

The ground is newly covered in a blanket. This blanket will remain and turn to mulch and nutrients for the ground. Sleep well, ground. Rest this winter absorbing all you can from the blanket of leaves now and soon the blanket of snow. Rest easy, rest well. For in the spring you will bloom with daffodils in white and yellow, hyacinths in pink and purple and irises in vibrant deep purples and burgundy.

How often do we get covered up in preparation for a new season of our lives? Do we kick off that blanket that has been positioned on us by our Creator? Do we miss opportunities of deep seasons of growth in our lives? What if we, like the ground, readily accepted a blanket falling from above? Could we remain as it were, dormant?

I think that spring is so glorious because all we have lived with is brown for a season. Except for a bit of snow, which eventually turns black around the edges, we see no brightness through the winter. Then, after being dormant, we see a shoot of green peaking out of the hard ground. Soon a crocus. Then days later the yard is blanketed with wild spring flowers, rejoicing in the spring day.

As I have watched this fall unfold before me I have been challenged to make the most of the winter months of my life. I know spring will appear, it is my prayer, though, that my spring growth will bring glory to my God.