A Spring Story

I have a story to tell you about the tree in our backyard. 

November of 2019, we moved into a new home - fast forward three months later in February 2020 - and we unexpectedly found ourselves in the NICU.

160 days later, we brought our daughter home in the heat of late summer. 

I completely missed the spring blooms in our yard that year.

On the one-year anniversary of entering the hospital, I found myself dreading the week. The mixture of memories and emotions inside my heart and soul were all consuming. Anyone with an anniversary of a hard date knows that each passing year looks differently - this one year mark was heavy physically and emotionally for me. 

But Our Father of Compassion so tenderly met me in those moments of grief. At our kitchen window, he lifted my eyes  - to our saucer magnolia tree.

I saw pink buds and gasped as I realized for the first time it was blooming pink flowers right on our girl’s birth day week.

What tree blooms only in late February in Birmingham, AL? A saucer magnolia. 

Our God is in the details.

I never saw the blooms when I was in the midst of our valley, but God knew they were coming. 

Now, each year as the season shifts from winter to spring, I find myself thanking God that I can slowly watch the buds emerge as the new life promises hope and renewal.

Where has God spoken to you in His creation?

If we pause and lift our eyes, He will show you.