you will rise

Matthew 13:3-8

Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

The gentle spring breeze is a warm embrace, loving me through the trials.

The spring air carries a delicate fragrance, wrapping me in candied sweetness.

The radiant spring sun is a joyful friend, smiling down on me with generous rays of light.

Spring is the promise of new beginnings and sprouting seeds; a promise of things buried resurrecting to life.

From September through November, when shoots spring up, they push through the ploughed ground, breaking through the soil.

To sprout is to break barriers, to endure hard work and discomfort, to push past thresholds. It’s to defy gravity and sing as we rise beneath the warm sun.

Springing up means enduring the darkness deep within the soil, knowing that as we lie in uncertainty, obscurity and difficulty, we are growing strong roots. Roots that will ground us as we begin to rise.

The longer the winter lingers, and we dwell in the dark, the deeper our roots grow. When spring arrives, we will be sure to spring up with eagerness, efficiency, and ease, to heights that surpass our own expectations.

The first shall be last. The first to sprout will wither under the harsh summer sun; their shallow roots will fail them, and they’ll return to the earth from which they came.

But the last shall be first. The last to emerge will be the strongest; their deep roots will sustain them, flowing with nutrients and resilient under the summer rays. The heat will help them prosper, and life will flow through their veins.

Matthew 20:16

So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Come spring, come sprouting. New life, new promise.

Winter will end, and a new dawn will rise.

You will spring forth,

You will sprout,

You will rise,

Come spring.

Come, Spring!

I hear the Father singing over you:

“Baby, I’m so proud of you.

You’ve come so far,

I know it’s been hard.

But you will rise again.

You will rise,

You will rise,

You will rise again.”

Colossians 2:7

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.