Every Friday my husband would return to his hometown to thoughtfully wander in solitude, a piece of property in the wooded, rolling hills on the outskirts of Silverton, Oregon— land owned by generations of his people. This quiet ritual refreshed him mentally and renewed him emotionally. In the spring he'd come home and tell me about the smell of the good earth awakening as it comes back to life, the emerging wildlife, and the first baby sprouts of grass seed that would mature to be harvested come summer.

Just as all this green began sprouting, more and more birds were singing in the morning, and that lovely sound of the little frogs at night commenced, and a sunny day here and there warmed our faces,  this gem showed up in a deep study we were having in the book of Ezekiel,  the scripture says "Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ...declares the Lord GOD... repent and live." 

I wonder if, perhaps, seasons were created as an object lesson to teach us this very message: When all looks dry, dead and lost, God can create life yet again. Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).