Christina Rossetti writes, “Come the spring with all its splendor, all its birds, and all its blossoms!” Spring sprung back in my little slice of heaven today. So glad to have a porch pondering day. Father Sky sketched a baby blue sky, cloudless and clear all day. The cardinals and chickadees flirted and flitted all over the yard and bird feeders. The male cardinals are almost fluorescent in their spring crimson robes. The chickadees sang loudly, swinging on the old oak’s thin limbs full of tender newly budding leaves. The porch floor is covered in pollen and Kat’s and Penelope’s little paw prints are tracked all over.

“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size,” Gertrude S. Wister. The teeny tiny mauve wildflowers didn’t get killed in the cold nights, standing tall worshipping the beautiful warm sunshine this morning. My lawn crew hasn’t come to cut the grass yet and the pretty little henbit wildflower weeds are taking over my yard and flowerbed. I’ve never seen such glorious dandelions as I saw on my morning walk with Penelope. I think we should change their names to sundelions. The glorious bright yellow blooms, their petals stretched open wide to drink in the sun’s warmth, were standing tall saluting the sun’s rays.

We read in the scriptures, the Song of Solomon 2:11-12, of the coming spring. “For 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.” I woke to the songs of the birds singing their morning songs of praise. I opened the curtains, got back in the bed, and watched the turkey buzzards wind up the wind current stairs. A fat little wren pushed out his chest, leaned back, and sang a lovely love song loudly from his perch on the porch roof.

I sat in the porch swing in the cool morning breeze waiting for the sun’s warmth to reach the porch. I was pondering how God can be likened to the sun. Just as the sun is the source of light and warmth for the earth, God’s holy light and his grace are the sources of our spiritual existence. Psalm 84:11 declares, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” The sun is a constant in our lives. The sun rises and sets each day sustaining life on earth. God is always present in our lives, steadfast and faithful, providing spiritual comfort through the warmth of his love. God’s grace is consistent and as unchanging as the sun. God radiates his holy light to light the darkness in our lives.

I have the most beautiful bird symphony of twilight playing now. All kinds of soft thankful bird melodies. A distant lawn mower is quietly providing a little background noise. Didn’t realize till today the bird symphony only plays in my yard. I walked Penelope further down the street and the bird symphony was quiet. Going to record a morning’s symphony and put it in my blog one day.

I’m thinking of all the blessings of nature that we see each day and take for granted. You know I’ll say all the beautiful little songbirds, the miniature wildflowers, the butterflies and the bumblebees. God has given us glorious sunrises and wondrous sunsets. He’s colored our world with all these blessings and has given us free will to chart the path of our lives.

We choose our path and travel in many directions throughout our lives. Sometimes we stumble along till we realize we made the wrong turn. It’s then we need to backtrack to God and pray for his help in finding our way through the darkness. Sometimes God will place a boulder in our way or churn a storm to push us in the right direction. We pray for his guidance and when we don’t get the answers we want, we forge ahead only to realize our mistake when the road is full of obstacles.

God’s path is always the correct direction. God can see things on our path that we can’t see. He protects us on our walk through life like a father protects his children. We have to put our trust in God and let him lead us down the path of righteousness. It’s hard to follow God’s path when we use our own map and take detours from our faith. God’s grace will show us his way and lead us to the kingdom of heaven. Let God navigate your life with love and grace. Scripture in Corinthians tells us “we walk by faith, not by sight.” We open our hearts to God’s love and our faith will walk us to our eternal home.

“To walk with God means to make a relationship with God part of your everyday lifestyle.” — David Platt