The Best Time of All

I was just a preschooler when we left the farm, but I still remember the beautiful red and yellow tulips that grew there, in the houseyard. Even then, I loved spring, with the fresh smell of rain showers, followed by sunny, blustery days; the greening grass, the little new leaves sprouting on each tree branch, and, of course, the flowers.

A spring garden, not too far from my house

The daffodils and tulips were the best because they were the first to bloom. The purple lilacs smelled the best. Even when we lived in the hotel in Norfolk, and later, in Fairbury, where we had no yard of our own, Dad would find some abandoned farmstead close to town, where he would cut arm loads of gorgeous, fragrant lilacs to bring home for Mom. I can still smell them, sitting on the kitchen table in the old, pink, ceramic pitcher that always listed a little too far to one side.

Spring has always been the best time of year, if only because of the flowers. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. Song of Songs 2:12

I love April, maybe because it's my birthday month, but certainly because that's when the flowers start to bloom. This year was a little different from most, though, because April was a cool, snowy month. We waited longer than usual for spring to arrive, but this week, it is finally here, in all its glory. 

As I drove around my neighborhood the other day, after dropping Levi at the Junior High, I stopped a few times to snap some pictures of the best flowers my neighbors have on display this week. The flowering trees are almost upstaging the tulips--almost. I love the white flowered fruit trees, but the pink flowering crabapple trees are the best. We don't have one in our yard, because Bill says he doesn't want to mess with the crabapples that will inevitably fall to the ground each fall. So, I have to be content with gazing at my neighbors' magnificent trees. 

The lilac bush in my yard isn't blooming yet, but I noticed several bushes, a block or two away, that were starting to bloom just yesterday. As I stepped out of my car when I was picking up Levi from his friend's house, the smell of a nearby white lilac bush was so sweet that it was practically overwhelming.

When Levi got home from school the other day, he asked me if I had seen the red and white striped flower in our front yard. I stepped outside to take a look, and was amazed at the beauty of that one, perfect tulip.

I am in awe, once again, of all of the beautiful things our heavenly Father has made: Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Luke 12:27