Orange Balm for the soul

It’s time to work a little on the prayer garden, I thought.

As the temps begin to warm, I can feel the first taste of spring in the air.

Honestly, the garden has been pretty desolate looking over the winter. The beautiful flora of spring, summer and fall are long gone. Dead leaves and pine needles cover the mulch, the table, the pebbled path - basically everything.

So on this day, I begin by blowing debris off the walkway.

In one corner of the sitting area, the leaves have gathered, inches deep. As I blow away the dried and decayed, I uncover something living. Bending down to inspect the area, I am surprised by what has been growing beneath - a healthy, green mass of very-much-alive orange balm.

Sheltered by the decomposing debris, the orange balm has resown itself and is thriving. The tender leaves have been protected from winter’s frigid temperatures. I pick a few sprigs to put in the vase at my sink, enjoying the subtle scent of orange.

And here’s what strikes me both in the natural world and in life: beneath the old and dead and decaying something is coming to life.

This is God’s exchange of ashes for beauty.

The hardest parts of our lives - the damaged, withered and dry-leaf parts - were never meant to ruin us, to choke all the life out of us. Instead, sometimes the most difficult, the most heartbreaking situations are protectively sheltering what comes next.

A new and vibrant thing slowly emerging from the broken-down and worn-out.

God loves to redeem. He loves to redeem the time we lose. The hurt we carry. The wayward places. The death and dying.

So if you’re in a tough spot right now, don’t give up. He’s right there with you in the gathering leaves and pine needles. Life that you cannot yet see lies beneath, just waiting to one day push through the rubble and reach toward the sun again.

Underneath, He is working the good.

Spring always follows winter. The sun always dawns on the horizon.

God is surely doing something new.

Today is a GOOD day!

Natalie