Springggtimmmee

Au revoir winter!

(Here is my intro but you can scroll down to the devo if you please.)

Good morning from my favorite coffee shop that is no longer a 40 min drive from my home, but now 2! Woohoo! As you’ve likely seen on my Instagram, I just completed a grueling (due to simultaneously being ill) move. Nonetheless, me (alongside some heroes who don’t wear capes but rather hard hats) completed the job. The past few weeks have been full of transition. I moved out of my parents house, my sister got married, she moved to Birmingham, and I now live out on 30A and am establishing my life out here! All good things but transition is transition no matter which way you look at it.

In the spirit of transition. A few weeks back I wrote a devo from Poema Clothiers spring wardrobe capsule. (This capsule was truly incredible and I am honored and speechless they wanted to include my somewhat chaotic, somewhat meaningful writing in there.) It is titled Springtime.

Shared below is what I wrote. I pray that it blesses you as life feels full of transition right now - a changing of the seasons. 🕊️

SPRINGTIME

Does anyone else feel as if this winter was pungently cold? It snowed in Florida ?!?! 6 inches might I add. I, along with likely many of you, found myself in the depths of the winter cold, aching for what was to come. Dreaming of basking in the sunshine, smelling the flowers blossoming all around. I found myself longing for springtime.

There’s a song by Chris Renzema that has carried me through many winter seasons - literally and figuratively. Can you guess the name of the song? …

Springtime! Shocking, I know.

The song discusses the idea that God’s love is like springtime. It pulls us out of the darkness and into the light. It brings renewal and refreshment. And as amazing of a reminder as that is, there is a tiny section (I’m sure there’s a musical term for that) at the very end of the song that is easy to miss.

It says this:

Come tend the soil

Come tend the soil of my soul

And like a garden

And like a garden I will grow.

In order to grow, a plant’s soil must be tended to. We all know that. In winter the flowers die and the trees become dormant. Springtime comes and suddenly, life is bursting all around us. The trees become full & the flowers bloom. God takes us through this same process.

We all want growth. But few of us want to accept and acknowledge the process needed before growth. God allows for winter seasons so that He can tend our soil. Removing weeds, plucking out rocks. But oftentimes, in that season all we can see is darkness and all we feel is cold. Light seems far and warmth seems intangible. We find ourselves aching for spring. Is .. it .. ever .. going .. to .. come?

The days, weeks, and months go by and one day we look outside and notice our favorite flower has bloomed. It’s even more colorful & beautiful than we remembered. The birds seem to sing a little louder today. All of nature is rejoicing. Spring is here.

If you find yourself in a winter season, rejoice. For God is tending, pruning, and growing something in you that one day will spring forth something even more beautiful.

Like the changing of the seasons, we are promised to endure moments of winter and moments of spring. Springtime for some of us, such as someone enduring a physical battle, may come in the form of Heaven. But for most of us, springtime is coming here on Earth. Trust that our great gardener knows exactly what you need to grow and flourish. And rejoice, for spring is coming.

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

“Behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”

Xx, Blake