Sunshine, Shovels, & Soil

Spring decided to show up for Easter today, and all three of us were super excited about it - probably me most of all.  Growing up in Northern California, I think I have forever been ruined in regard to winter weather.  To me, 45 degrees and raining = FRIGID winter weather.  So, by the time January rolls around here, I am ready for the snow to disappear and be replaced by seventy-degree sunshine.  (Even after twelve years of winters far from California, I still hold on to the wild delusion that one February this will actually happen. :)

Emma got to wear her Easter dress WITHOUT a winter coat!

The thermometer hit a blazing 66 degrees this afternoon, and we took advantage of it.  Emma helped Daddy clean out the gutters.

(Grandma, I know this picture is making you cringe.  Don't worry, everyone is still in one piece over here.  We're trying to stay away from the ER for at least a few months.)  Emma wanted to go all the way to the top with Daddy (and she kept sneaking higher and higher, one step at a time, to see if Mommy was really paying attention).  When I told her that the top of the ladder was for grown ups, she very solemnly replied, "I'm grown-up because of my vitamins."  Is she ornery, or what?

We aren't the only ones excited about sunshine; the tulips are enjoying the warm weather, too.  I love tulips and wish they would last all summer!

While Emma and Daddy tackled the gutters, I worked on our flower beds.  Our house had pretty much no landscaping when we moved in.  (Unless you count the stray peony that showed up in the middle of the lawn, looking a lot like one of those crazy trees from a Dr. Seuss book.)  Working on our yard has helped me discover that I really love making things grow.  (My mom is a natural green thumb, and I'm hoping I caught just a little bit of her gift with plants.)  This is going to sound strange, but I especially love the feel of freshly-turned soil in my hands.  I don't even mind the earthworms. :)

As I was working today, I stopped to think about all the times Jesus used word pictures from the garden when he was teaching: mustard seeds, fig trees, grapevines, good fruit, weeds and thistles.   I ran my hands through the soil I had just weeded and turned.  It was soft and damp.  I could imagine little annuals, jumping out of their six-packs and begging to be planted in my flower beds. :)  

The picture that came to my mind was of my heart.  Would God see my heart like that soil - soft, open, fertile ground where his words to me can take root and grow?  Or, have I opened my heart to things that keep it hard and dry?  Maybe I've just allowed so many things to occupy my heart and mind that there's no room for anything else to be planted.  It's so easy to fill my days with lots of "good stuff" without taking the time to keep the soil of my heart watered.

On this Easter Sunday, am I keeping my heart soft?  Am I ready to hear and obey my Savior's voice?  Jesus, the Son of God who died on a cross 2,000 years ago and whose resurrection we celebrate today, wants to plant his words in the soil of my heart.  He wants to grow his fruits in me - things I so often lack, like gentleness and patience.  

When he comes to work in this garden called me, what kind of soil will he find?

Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared.  They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire.  They were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?  

He is not here, but has been raised!"

Luke 24:1-6

This Easter Sunday has been a wonderful day for our family; I hope it was for yours, too!