The sight of the daffodils blooming at one side of the house distracted me as I trudged grumpily toward the hose to turn on the water.
I honestly did a double-take, caught my breath at what I instantly recognized as not a coincidence, and in a heartbeat, the in-a-crabby-mood Janice switched from a scowl to a smile.
There they were, my spring-time friends finally arriving in clusters for albeit too short a seasonal stay, but their bright, sunny yellow presence I spotted was so sorely needed at that very moment of that very day earlier this week.
As beautiful as always and well worth the wait, here they were at last and in spite of a "spring" weather pattern that changes dramatically in temperature as quickly as your money disappears at the gas pumps and in the grocery store these days.
(I actually spotted a very small watermelon selling for close to $9 at one store and thought, well, there goes that Memorial Day picnic staple or else that's all we're having.)
Oh those daffodils -- that symbol of rebirth and new beginnings.
Thank you, God, I said to myself, the sting of tears I never like to unleash making my eyes puddle as I prepared to do battle to not let those floodgates open.
It is especially during Holy Week that I am reminded anew of how woefully unworthy yet thankful I am for God's mercies, grace and love available to all who need and want it, through a simple act of faith.
I'm in that need-and-want category big time as I trod along on a faith journey punctuated with more detours than I care to confess.
Bad moods. Distractions. Stress -- real and imagined. Guilt over speed-reading morning devotions. Worry over the health issues afflicting family and friends. Appalled at the atrocities and depravities and the inhumanity that the daily news cycle spews.
But something always beckons me to get back on the highway track, to return to the "This way, "Come and see," "Follow me" faith-hope-love freeway, to this ongoing, try-again opportunity to serve, to be salt, to be light.
My faith is buoyed by many things, none the least of which is the word of God I need to read more than dust the cover that protects it.
"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Yes!
"Run with endurance the race set before you." Yes!
And nature never disappoints as one way God communicates with us.
Surely those daffodils are proof of that. So, too, the morning and evening sky, obvious testaments of our maker's majesty.
"Be still and know that I am God." Yes!
Then there's the music I hear when I need it the most.
That can be an old stand-by hymn -- "Trust and Obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."
Or in praise and worship tunes I hear on my drive to and from work, the lyrics sometimes so relevant I think they had to have been written just for me to hear at that very moment.
Medicine for my soul.
"Hope can change everything …."
"I know my Redeemer lives…."
"Lord I Need You…"
That I surely do.
Here's hoping you have a blessed Easter.