This World Is A Rich Gift

It's February and there are a few feet of snow on the ground, but I know that Spring is coming.  People are glad of it too.  Personally I like being shut in and enjoy the quiet and peace that winter brings.

Yes, we had our winter all at once up here in the northeast.  Just as we were thinking it might be a mild one, storm after storm approached and the snow was almost too much to keep up with.  But we did it.  We shoveled and raked the roof and then did it some more.  Now we are in a quiet time, and there will be a "warm up" this week when the temps reach into the 40's.  Everything will melt a bit and then  re-freeze and so on, until only mud is left and then the bugs will come back to life.  Life without bugs is a wonderful thing.

What I really dislike about Spring is the way it shines a bright spotlight on my situation.  One more year of my life wasted in a place that is not mine.  No excitement about planning a garden and anticipation in seeing how the plantings from the year before have fared.  I used to keep a notebook and draw out my landscaping plans to work on a little each summer - when I had a home.  In 2006 I had bought and planted a beautiful dogwood bush with red branches that were a pretty contrast to the snow.  I looked forward to seeing it grow and mature, but in 2007 I had left that home, and now it's outside someone else's window.  Someone who probably doesn't even notice it and certainly doesn't know how lovingly it was planted.

And what about the two hydrangeas I found struggling to survive among the mass of weeds in the garden in Hopkinton?  That rental had a big overgrown garden that was mostly full of out-of-control mint and bunches of milkweed the two little hydrangeas (I recognized by the few leaves on them).  So I dug them up and planted them near the side of the house, that belonged to someone else, and nursed them back to health.  A few months later, when I moved to yet another rental, they were looking good.  I wonder what color their flowers were.  As I was moving out, the landlord was running the lawnmower over the entire back garden.

I keep telling myself that this world is not ours and we are only stewards.  That each place I live and the good I do in beautifying the yards is for God to see.  The earth, dirt, trees and little hydrangea shrubs are his, even if they grow in ground owned by some person.  When I walk along the lake I see what everyone else can see and it's as much mine as it is theirs and it's his gift to us all - the beauty of this world.  A gift from a generous God who "gives us richly all things to enjoy" - 1 Timothy 6:17.

I hope it snows again soon.