Now imagine if the tree had given up near the end of winter, right at the edge of winter and spring, and bowed down to the ground and given up on living. Imagine if it had ended all possibility of the growth to come – the miraculous growth – all because winter was so cold and grey and harsh with no sign of spring to come. But the tree, refusing to bow down and give up, lifted its branches like arms instead to the heavens with no idea of what would come, or when – but nevertheless hoping for light and sunshine and warmth and blossoms. How often I have bowed down to the ground, weeping and cursing and yelling and complaining as I felt enveloped and trapped and suffocated by winter seasons in my life when I couldn’t even remember what a blossom looked like. But as I have tenaciously chased after the Lord, He has lifted up my head in my many winters, pouring mercy into me and lifting me back into His hold. Each time, when I thought I could bear no more, with the strength of the Lord drenching me with love, I found my hands and heart rising once again to heaven with the promise of spring to come.
And, sure enough, despite days I could only see one blossom on my life, sometimes in only 24 hours too many blossoms to count would come. God reminds me these blossoms might not be answered prayers, but all in all they are blessings that are greater than any other blessings at all. Spiritual blessings. Love. Hope. Mercy. Faith. Forgiveness. And the blossoms, the blessings, are not just His gifts to me. For I find that as God brings me from all the winter seasons into spring, He is growing me up into a daughter who herself is beginning to have these blossoms to offer others. Love for an enemy. Faith for a friend. Encouragement for a weary one. Hope for the discouraged. So many blossoms. And, even as I write, I look to the tree. And if I am not mistaken, there are even more precious pink blossoms on that tree. And, as I look into my heart at where I have experienced so very many long winters, I have again the hope that spring is on its way – with the promise of God’s blossoms. Blessings that could only come from above. God’s precious blossoms. God’s precious blessings. Too many to count.