Blooms Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Glass February 29, 2012

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. -Psalm 51:10 NIV The Outer Banks is beginning to burst into bloom with flowering trees, flowers and bulbs announcing the arrival of spring. I have always associated the spring season with a time for new beginnings. The outdoors looks fresh and rejuvenated with new growth and buds. The colors of the emerging blooms are vibrant, especially the yellow forsythia and daffodils. We have learned to have faith that a flowering tree will bloom again as it has in year’s past, even though it was just a mass of bare limbs weeks ago. Remembering also that beneath the barren ground there is a cluster of bulbs that will soon give way to a colorful display of beauty that can’t be ignored. Spring is a showcase for nature in its purest form. It is the season of eternal hope. I have seen the phrase, “Bloom Where You Are Planted” on many greeting cards. In spiritual terms it could also mean to take what God has given you and make the most of it. There are things that happen to all of us. Painful experiences, deep wounds, emotional disappointments, hardships. No one escapes them as they are part of life on this earth. However, we don’t have to make them the focus of our life either. Talking about our problems to friends over and over and living in self-pity keeps it fresh, day after day. What we can do is to leave negative experiences behind in our thoughts and minds. Dwelling on those times of sorrow or loss after an appropriate time has passed has an amazing impact on us. Reliving events in our minds and hearts can be as though they have happened to us again! We have to change our focus from disappointment and sadness to God and get back to where we belong. We can get stuck in a lifeless cycle where nothing good happens because we don’t expect it to. Letting go and releasing painful experiences and attitudes to God will free us up for a new beginning. We can pray for a clean heart to accompany a new positive steadfast spirit towards our future. Let the old pass away to make room for the new!