I love Spring! But if you ask me at the beginning of any season, I love that one too. One of the reasons I love spring is watching leaves grow. There is something so miraculous about watching a bud turn in to a baby leaf. I don’t think I ever really noticed baby leaves until 5 years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child. Perhaps it was the fact that I was growing a person that made me more aware of growth in nature.
It is hard though to see the details around us, especially in Spring when there are so many things in that pull our attention, trees blossoming and blooming, flowers bursting forth, the return of birds we haven’t seen or heard in months, or the arrival of our animal friends who were hibernating. Spring is truly bursting with beauty and with life.
One day though I noticed baby leaves, they are so tiny and so precious and they grow so fast. You have such a small window to notice them, let alone enjoy them. I have come to truly enjoy them; they draw my attention to God, to His creation. Sometimes we just need to stop in the hectic, busy world we live in and, in a sense, stop and smell the roses. But in this case, stop and notice all the amazing details that go in to the changing of the seasons.
It is truly wondrous when we can stop and take in the depth of creation. Every tiny intimate detail God created that we continue to see right before our eyes when we stop and notice. For me that moment comes each spring with baby leaves; how fast they grow and how short their season of life truly is. In a flash a tree goes from bare to bursting with life. Before we know it, the lush green leaves turn and we experience glowing colors. And yet again the tree is bare.
Life is that short, we have to take time to enjoy the beautiful moments. We have to make room in our lives to experience God in new and different ways, and yet in the same way. We need to stop and smell the roses, stop and watch the seasons change and be reminded of the imagination and care of our loving God. When we stop and notice this amazing process of growth and new life each year, we can be truly touched by the wonder of our God; the God who created each little detail around us, who also created us.
Janice is a Presbyterian Minister serving a church in Southern West Virginia. She has two beautiful daughters, Eleanor (Ella) and Lillian (Lily) and is married to Jay, the most talented and creative person she has ever met. Together they enjoy the outdoors and spending time together experiencing the creativity of God through the world around them.