This time next week, I plan to awaken surrounded by snow. To be sure, I plan to be inside in a nice, warm room by the fire gazing out the window at the morning sun reflecting off of the pure white brilliance of ski slopes. Hot coffee in hand, YouVersion Bible app open on my iPad, I will great the day with a verse like this one. 

Spring has fairly sprung here at our house on the side of the hill. Temperatures are climbing. The sun arrives earlier and stays up later. Migratory birds sing their traveling songs. Buds will soon awaken as blooms. Bulbs will send forth their shoots and blossom with glorious beauty. 

Barren trees will sprout new leaves. Blades of grass and dandelions will push up from the ground. Tiny flowers of purple and pink will decorate our paths. 

Spring is a morning kiss after a luxurious evening of deepest rest.

Next Sunday, however, we are visiting the cold and beautiful mountains where outdoor activities provide thrills and chills followed by warm beverages and delightful dinners. We will celebrate winter’s best gifts for a few days and return home gladly able to store away coats and gloves, scarves and woolens. 

An early walk through the busy streets of Hanoi took us past a group of women in matching dress rehearsing their morning ritual greeting the day with synchronous dance. Their smiles of acknowledgment linger in my mind. 

A morning run along the harbor in San Diego wound past aging men and women greeting the sun as it rose above the high hills to the sound of gentle waves greeting the grains of sand on the shore. 

The dripping from the leaves and needles of a Washington State forest arrest senses with aromas of evergreen. The reflections on the lake and the hushed gurgle of the nearby stream soothe and comfort and heal. 

Awakening at sea, curtains pulled back from the window revealed a world of bluest blue. Blue above, blue below, blue forever. 

How could we not praise God from whom all these blessings flow?

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