April is a month of newness, of change, and sometimes of in-betweens. On day one, we set aside time for practical jokes to fool anyone around us. It is like a wake up call from life saying, “Hey! Wake up! It’s time to be silly, to have fun again. It is time to step back out into the world and enjoy life after the winter months of hiding to stay warm.”
Then we start to see the beginning of new life come back to our world. Nature blooms again after lying dormant through months of ice and snow. People begin to emerge from their homes, having stayed indoors to avoid what nature slept through. My experiences growing up in Texas and now living in Oklahoma keep me on guard for the random snow or ice storm that could come one afternoon after waking up to a beautiful warm sunny morning. But spring always pushes back and emerges victorious with rain and tornados.
Just like day one, nature keeps us on our toes and says, “Hey! Wake Up! It’s time to step out your front door and video that funnel in the sky.” I am not endorsing this action, but I have seen it so many times by want-to-be storm chasers. These storms call to us, beckoning us to look up from the warmth we found inside all winter.
April is a time of reawakening for all of us. Are you ready?
When someone asks if I am ready, it generally means we’re going somewhere. And let’s be real, as a mom, it is usually me asking that question while trying to drag my boys out of the house.
We are not only stepping into change with the weather, we are encountering change in our government, in our society, and in our world.
The hardest part for me is the unknown. It all seems to be screaming for change. Some want to change it all at once, others are asking for a slower progress to allow everyone a chance to get ready. While still there are those digging in their heels and demanding life stay as it has always been.
These changes bring fear for a future we don’t understand. Fear overwhelms and causes us each to run in the direction we are most comfortable. Then we look in terror at the people that ran a different directions.
May 31, 2013, I walked outside to see more wall clouds than I could have ever imagined swirling over my home. My in-laws had come over to join us in our storm shelter just in case we needed to use it. I helped my boys into the shelter and watched as my husband and his father stood in the driveway staring at the sky. I had chosen the safety of the shelter while they stood in the path of danger to see what was coming.
Thankfully we did not see any funnels drop in our area. Others were not so blessed that day.
My point, we ran in different directions, some toward the danger and some away from it. Neither of us were wrong, but each were willing to take different risks to protect what they know and what is important to them.
So as we reawaken to a new spring, to a hope of this pandemic coming to an end, to a new government making a lot of changes, to a cancel culture wiping out a history they don’t like, to a country divided, don’t forget the newness spring brings. The blossoms, the new life, the joy of seeing someone smile at you as you walk through a store, the world reopening, the freedom we have to stand up for the direction we have chosen to run.
Then I encourage you to find out why someone has run in the other direction. Don’t try to drag them with you. Just find out why they ran the other way. You may be surprised.
Don’t let fear drive you away from reawakening. Life is too short to stay hidden past winter.
