Beautiful flowers are always a welcome sight to my eyes. In fact I love the Spring for its profusion of blooms. We always rejoice to see the first signs of new growth--those precious little shoots that raise their brave heads even while the wind is cold, and the earth seemingly still in the sleep of winter. It seems so miraculous that these new tiny green things are able to sprout at all.

And then there are the birds. Suddenly flitting about from tree to tree. Yesterday I watched a pair of robin red breasts as they played and dived and flirted with each other. "We'll be seeing some baby robins for sure," I told my daughter Grace, while we watched their antics, not more than a few feet from our back sliding doors. "If we watch carefully, we can see where their nest is."

You know where this is heading, don't you? The old adage of "Stop and smell the roses" is close to my point. From today's WWJD reflection, Harrison reminds us that "Jesus said that the Father takes note of a falling sparrow and that He clothes the lilies of the field." For one moment, consider this: None of the beauty of spring, the new life, the new growth, happens by chance. God has not wound up the world like a sort of toy and then sat back to let it all unwind. He has His hand on it, still.

Harrison adds, "[Jesus] also said that our Father cares much more for us than His works of nature." What a profound statement! Jesus said this, KNOWING it to be fact. No one ever before could have known this the way He did. He had a communion with the Father that no mere human has had--for Jesus is very God.

As you enjoy the thrill of beauty in your area of the world today, and throughout this season, remember that you are of far more value than the flowers, to Your God. He who "clothes" them so sumptuously, will He not much more "clothe" you? To be clothed means much more than merely having things to wear. It refers to the entire fabric of our lives--the "soil" we are planted in; the nutrients which support our growth, and even the water we need to sustain us.

God is concerned greatly with every aspect of your life.
Can you rejoice today for being His planting, His work, His child?
I can.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the care You give me, individually, and for how You plant me collectively with others. I am Your child, Your handmaiden, and my growth and blooms are
products of Your mercy and grace. Let me raise my head bravely where you send me, and do the work of Him who sent me, just as Jesus did. In Jesus' Name! Amen.