APPRECIATING SPRING

I don’t know about you, but I am spending more time looking out windows than I used to. My office at church faces away from a window, and instead, I face a wall. It isn’t bad. I can turn around and look out, and in all honesty, it probably helps me focus. Now, I spend a lot of time looking out my kitchen window, because it seems like I clean dishes nonstop. Well, maybe that is an exaggeration, but you can nod your head if you feel the same. I also look out our back yard at our tree line. 

Over the past month, I have noticed the tree in our front yard.

It is a normal maple tree, but I never noticed how it bloomed red before getting leaves. Surely, it has done this for the last 10 years that we have lived here. I just have been too busy to notice. 

I also have noticed the birds that reside in our neighborhood. As a native Hoosier, I feel robins and black birds seem plentiful in Indiana. Other birds like blue jays, finches and hummingbirds seem more rare. Yet I have noticed two blue jays and yellow finch in our backyard. Again, before the stay at home order, I never really paid attention. 

Both the tree and the birds are reminders of God, the Creator. I can take it for granted in my day to day to interactions. They are also a reminder of new beginnings, renewals and life.

Join me in pressing pause. Look not just to look but to actually see. See what our Father has created for us to enjoy and how this time of year is quickly changing.

- Jody Lukowiak, Children’s Pastor