New Beginnings by Cindy Oriol

I remember as a child going to the park for the very first time. We lived on a street where there were no parks. We barely had sidewalks to walk on and most of them had enormous cracks across the curbs. Our street was always busy with the traffic going at a pace that was pretty fast, so we played in our side yard that was probably the size of an alley.

I remember my brother and his wife taking my siblings and me to the park to fly our kites. My kite was full of many bright colors of the rainbow. I was completely fascinated by how this beautiful object with a tail and a piece of string could stay up in the air as long as I ran with it. I loved watching it soar in the air and dip down low to the ground but not touch it only to fly higher and higher above the trees.

March is the season when things that have been in the dirt for some time begin to come alive again. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” We can say the same thing about the flowers, shrubs, and trees that we plant. The old ones have died and laid dormant for a while, and now their new lives have begun.

Every springtime, I loved to watch my mother plant her flowers in the front yard. She did not have a large area, but she planted some impatiens, petunias, and pansies. She enjoyed her flowers, and they brought color to the small, dull area in the front of our home.

I remember playing in the alley from our backyard with my siblings and our friends. One day, I looked up and saw the largest and tallest flower I had ever seen. It was bright yellow and in the center of it were white and black seeds. When I asked my father while describing it, he told me it was a sunflower and that if we roasted the seeds, we could actually eat them. To this day I love the taste of them, especially when I eat the kernels in my salad.

God’s creation is everywhere you look. The beauty of this magnificent earth can not be comparable to what our glorious Heaven must be. I enjoy taking my time to look at the flower petals of a dogwood tree. Some are baby pink and white and others are different variations of color. Their shapes and sizes are different as well. The leaves are so delicate with their beautiful etchings. It is as if God painted each petal. Not only do I like to look at them, but I love to smell their fragrance of distinct aromas, especially the scent of the lilac tree and the rosebush.

Between the month of March and mid-April, a trip to Washington, D.C is a must-see. This is when the city’s famous cherry blossoms are in bloom. The best viewing of these trees typically lasts four to seven days after peak bloom begins, but under ideal weather conditions, the blossoms can last up to two weeks. During this time of your visit, you’ll find that the nation’s capital is accented in pink for the national cherry blossom festival. The homes are also lined up on both sides of the streets. You can just open your windows and the fragrance comes through like a sweet perfume.

Another part of spring I enjoy is when the animals peek their heads out of their homes after they have hibernated for the winter. The birds that have flown south to escape the cold, frigid temperatures come back home. They feel the warmth of the sun (Son) and know that winter has passed and spring has begun.

My husband, John and I love to watch the beautiful birds out our sliding glass door that land on our bird feeder daily. Sometimes we will have as many as six to seven different species. We have seen cardinals, doves, wrens, various sparrows, and now and then we spot a blue jay. Every morning, John feeds them. They wait patiently for him to fill their tray. As soon as he is finished and comes inside, here comes the birds.

I love to watch the squirrels that come into the yard to eat the feed that the birds have kicked out while eating. One day while we were watching them we saw “Scrawny”. We nicknamed him this because he was so thin and very little. He positioned his little body on one of the patio chairs and was balancing himself on one handle of the chair. Suddenly, we heard a whimper coming from him. He was crying. John recorded his sad little voice to share with others. It was pitiful hearing him cry like that.

The mother instinct in me wanted to go out and comfort him, but I knew as soon as we would slide the glass door back, he would run away. Instead, I spoke to him saying, “Do not cry little one, everything is all right.” He turned his little body around while still balancing himself, looking straight at me and his crying deceased.

We have a sanctuary right in front of us every day. comprising birds, squirrels, and now and then, we will see a mallard drake and a hen. We enjoy watching the ducks frolic and play in the puddles of water after a good soaking rain.

We read in Genesis 1:11 (NIV), that God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it according to their various kinds.”

And in Genesis 1:24 (NIV), God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.”

In Christ Love, Cindy Oriol

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Cindy Oriol

Cindy Oriol is the author of “IF ONLY” and “ HAVING JOY IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM.” They were written by the Holy Spirit and me to encourage anyone that is going through a storm in their life. No matter how many storms we have to endure as long as we hold tight to “Jesus “ we can make it through anything.