By Larry Stover

Pastor at Praise Park Ministries Church of the Nazarene and Valley Grande resident

 

Spring is a beautiful time of the year. After winter’s dull and dismal landscape, everything is coming to life one more time.

Signs of spring are everywhere.  Area nurseries are filling up with new plants, trees, and shrubs.  Stores with garden centers are likewise bringing in a wide array of bedding plants.

Grocery stores and many unusual places are finding room for plants and seeds. Gardens are being tilled. There is something great about the smell of fresh tilled dirt.

My family is getting ready to transform the family garden plot into plants and seeds. Our fruit trees have been pruned. Off season fertilizer has been applied to fruit trees as well as the garden plots.

We are checking the Ph of the soil to see if we need to make any changes for best results and we can hardly wait to start harvesting fresh fruit and vegetables.

Spring is also graced with flowering trees and shrubs.  A wide array of color covers the land like a flag flowing in a gentle breeze.

The colors of spring are enjoyed by all of us who look forward to this fresh beginning of life.

It’s also a time for allergy sufferers. The constant breeze across the area is causing burning eyes and runny noses. Family doctors only have to look at us to know that we are suffering from sinus infections, bronchitis and the like.

For those of us who love animals and nature, we look forward to this time of year. Baby animals abound!

I love to see the baby ducks and geese. It seems like everyone stops to check out the baby puppies and kittens. Down on the farm, baby animals of every variety seem to be arriving.

For some people spring is a time to start all over. Everything is fresh and new.

Maybe you are one of those who want to turn over a new leaf. Your New Year’s resolutions were not as successful as you hoped they would be.

Maybe you need a fresh encounter with Jesus Christ.  We are in the season of Lent. It is a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He is all about fresh starts, new life and new beginnings.

It is amazing what a day-to-day relationship with Jesus does to give your life a sense of worth and value.

I am excited about the difference I see in the lives of people who have discovered a real relationship with our Lord.

Spring is all about new life. We see it in animals, plants, and trees.  But we also see it in the lives of people who have discovered that new life in Jesus Christ is “Simply Beautiful.”