Flowers

I have been pretty down the last couple of days. Today especially I decided I was going to just lock myself in my apartment for the day. I even cancelled meeting with my wonderful language helper. I had some things to work through and I just wanted to be alone. God had different plans.
Today is a beautiful spring day. Spring has always been my favorite season. I grew up on the Puget Sound in Western Washington. I have never been anywhere in the world with a better spring. My parents were horrible gardeners when I was growing up. Our yard was embarrassing. When spring came everything changed. The apple trees, cherry tree, and pear tree all bloomed in different colors. The tulips and bluebells sprouted in our unkept flowerbeds. The rose bush came to life. Our rhododendron, Washington’s state flower, had beautiful pink sweet smelling flowers. I loved spring with a passion. We still had weeds and moss growing in the grass but it didn’t matter everything was beautiful. Every morning I would wake up and I could see apple blossoms outside of my window. Even thinking about it makes me smile.
Back to today, I couldn’t resist the sunshine any longer. So I decided I would just walk 5 minutes to pick up my purse from a repair shop and then go home. Once I was out God’s creation had me. I went on a slow walk for about two miles. I saw fruit trees and flowers blooming everywhere. Where I live there is graffiti on the walls and fences but right next to that graffiti are well kept flower beds. God’s beauty shines brighter than the destruction of people. Krasnodar might have miserably hot summers and terribly muddy winters but I have a feeling it has wonderful springs.
God thank you for the new growth of spring. Thank you for the flowers and the sunshine. Thank you for neighbor kids outside playing and for their friendly hellos. Thank you that I’m here in Krasnodar.