Spring has definitely sprung around camp. The trees are budding new little leaves, the grass is already growing tall, flowers are beginning to bloom… new life has come to the woods. I enjoy the changing of the seasons, from the beautiful golden glow of the woods decked out in fall colors, to the peaceful blanket of snow covering in winter, the greening of new life in spring, to the fullness of summer.

There is a period of time between some of the seasons, though, when things just look ugly (at least to me). A time when it seems that the beauty of the next will never come. The transition from winter to spring can seem hopeless. The snow melts and the devastation of winter is revealed… and it seems the beauty of spring will not be able to overcome the havoc of the winter storms, the seemingly never ending grip of winter. Then (suddenly) as if taken by surprise, the earth begins to be renewed as spring brings new life to the barren woods.

It doesn’t matter that I know what spring should do, what it has done in the past… yearly I find myself wondering if spring will really come in full force. And as I’ve walked around the woods at camp over the last few days, reflecting on the beauty of the process of spring… marveling at it almost… I was reminded of how I can have a similar view of God’s mercy and redemptive work in my life.

Lamentations 3:22-23 says,
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”

It is a beautiful sight to see spring renewal after a hard winter. It is an even more powerful to experience God’s faithful mercy upon our lives, to live a life knowing that his love for us will never end. Have you taken the time to see that beauty worked in you?

~Jillene