Life

I have come that they may have

life,

and have it to the full

(John 10:10)

Yesterday marked many important anniversaries for many people: The Oklahoma City Bombing, Hitler's Birthday, the Columbine Shooting, 420, etc... 

And many of those remind us of much destruction and loss of life. And yet, yesterday as I remembered that which has been so destructive in my life, I couldn't help but become so aware of the life around me.

The trees are leafing. These pictures come from two trees in the front of our house. They are magnificent in their pink blooms. It's just amazing. 

The daffodils and tulips are abloom, a striking contrast to the bright green lawns that cover the landscape of the Wasatch front. 

It's incredible how life can be suddenly bursting from the seams after such a long period of dormancy, where all these beautiful things were not even a thought in our minds. We just saw the gray; the appearance of death. And now within a few weeks, the earth here is covered in life again, as if we never experienced these last 6 months of winter.

And I think that there are periods of our lives that are much like this. I was thinking of the darkness that I had once lived in, that gray, bleak world. And from it, Christ has brought me life. I am a new creation in Christ. Yesterday I was reminded of this, as I reflected on times of darkness in the lives of those I love, darkness in the history of our country, darkness in the history of the world. But see, even out of these atrocities, life is bursting from the seams! What an amazing promise we have in Jesus!

Yesterday my nephew was born: Graham Charles Parnell. And I am so grateful for him. What a beautiful reminder of life!

(Can you tell me what kind of trees these are? I really love them)