When Hope Dangles from the Tree in Your Front Yard 3.21.2012

After a delicious taste of summer in Florida last week, we’ve returned to a delectable sliver of spring here in the Midwest. The trees in our yard have begun to bud, the tulips outside our front door have pushed their green-bodied stems proudly through the dirt, and the daffodils by our mailbox are sporting happy yellow smiles. It appears that winter has packed her bags and spring is here to stay. 

We spied our first fat robin hopping about the yard yesterday as we patted sand-cakes in the sand box. The very sight of spring’s orange-bellied harbinger made Josh toss his plastic yellow shovel in the air like a spontaneous firework and clap his hands in anticipation.


 He knows that at our house the first robin of the year beckons a response. So today we’ll thread our tree branches with rainbows--strips of cheerful yarn and a dazzling draperies of ribbon-- in hopes that our little feathered friend will find what it needs to build a beautiful nest. 

This hanging of color in the wake of winter's exit is a new but favorite tradition for us, an idea we borrowed from a sweet little children’s book called Miss Mudle's Holidays. Miss Muddle is a whimsical character who believes that the best way to mark the ordinary moments of life is to celebrate them. Without a doubt, she’s a woman after my own heart! 

As we string our rainbow welcome upon the trees today, I’ll remind my little ones of another tree. A tree laced with the crimson blood of Christ and draped with the brilliant colors of an unfathomable love. 

And on this first day of spring on this twenty-eighth day of Lent, we’ll celebrate the grace that dangles from Calvary’s ancient branches. Grace for all seasons. 

Then while my children hang hope for the birds, I may just drop to my knees in the muddy grass beneath those branches and thank my Savior for the hope He's strung for me. Because of His offering on that old rugged tree, this flawed and broken nest we call home is  laced with ribbons of joy and threads of glory. Hallelujah!




The Overflow: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. -Galatians 6:14








Linking up today with a daily walk in his grace
  and   journey to epiphany




















and God bumps, too- a must read today!