Spring Routines

I have been watching this tree outside my window bud for the last month, literally.

It’s outside my morning prayer spot. I have never had the time, or should I say, taken the time, to daily watch the progression of a budding tree before the pandemic hit. There’s a silver lining.

I am amazed at how within each individual small bud that is emerging there are so many tiny green sprouts that will become part of a bundle of leaves so thick they will completely cover my view of the landscape behind them. The gift of God’s creativity and comfort shines in this annual routine.

And the birds that come and sit periodically in the tree are amazing. They take me by surprise when they do. I try to stay real still so they don’t leave. The branches are so close to the window I really do have a birds-eye view. Pardon the pun. The robins

building nests and the woodpeckers pecking wood.

I never realized how busy Spring is in it’s predictable routines.

There is an office building not too far off in the distance and every day the same cars with the same people show up. In fact I could set my clock by their arrival. I feel like I have gotten to know them. There is the woman with the yellow jacket that gets out of her red mini van and the gentleman who gets out of the white car and empties what is left of his coffee in the grass then grabs his jacket and lunch from the back seat. Same thing every day, a comforting routine.

Anyone who has been around children knows how routine is so important for their well-being and those around them. There is something so comforting about routine.

We never outgrow that desire and that craving for routine. That is why, when our routine gets disrupted, things can get ugly. We are all learning these past months just how fragile our routines are. How quickly they can be disrupted and how easily we can become disoriented when they do.

The thing about routines is that it gives us some semblance of order, predictability, and sameness and that allows us to trust and feel at peace that things are as they should be. We find comfort in that sameness.

Now more than ever we need to find our new sense of sameness. Look to nature this Spring. Let its predictability remind you of God’s care and his immutable promise that he watches over us, that he has this, and that we can trust and hope in him. Nothing can disrupt that.

Joan