There are signs of Spring in New Jersey.  Crocuses are popping up, buds are showing at the ends of branches and the grass seems just a little bit greener.  I drank it all in when I was up for a visit last week.  I love Spring!  Every time I came in and out the side door of my parent’s house, I noticed the bright green leaves of some daffodil plants celebrating the warmth and moving ever closer to exploding out into those delightful sunny yellow flowers. 

But I found out they had a story.

Seems there was an odd warm spell in North Jersey sometime in late January.  The daffodils sensed that warmth and thought it was time to break through the winter dirt.  But just a day later, a surprise snowstorm ruined their party.  It snowed on them two more times after that – one storm that covered them in ten inches of snow, and then a blizzard that buried them in over a foot.  A weaker, more delicate flower would have succumbed.  But these hardy daffodils stood their ground, took a break from growing and waited out the cold.  And now, they are healthy and green and ready to show the world what they are made of.

There are times in our lives when we feel like it’s the right time to move forward, the right time to take a risk.  All the signs point to perfect conditions and God’s approving nod.  And then suddenly, the climate can change and we find ourselves cold and clueless.  And we wonder if we were the ones that ran ahead, or if God did tell us to move forward even though He knew there were difficult times in the forecast.  We might not get our questions answered, but we can be like the daffodils – brace ourselves, stay strong and wait out the storms.  And in God’s timing, the warm sun will shine again and we’ll be grateful for the days of waiting and grateful that God’s hand never left us even when the weather tried to convince us otherwise.

Something tells me those daffodils might just be a little more glorious this year.  Hang on.  Spring is coming.