January is the month in which seed and plant catalogs arrive in my mailbox. That’s all it takes to make me start planning our back yard spaces for flowers and shrubs, and pots. Some of the plans have borne fruit (literally and figuratively) , but many more I abandoned after very little effort. This year I thought I wouldn’t even open the catalogs, but that was a vain thought. Lovely glossy pictures of healthy roses, hydrangea, and hundreds of other flowers and foliage drew me irresistibly.

This ritual, of pouring over catalogs, occurs virtually every January. It must be an echo from my father, who started vegetable seedlings every January or February on the back, glassed-in porch of our house. By early May they were ready to be planted in his large vegetable garden in New York state… The urge to plant and watch things grow and flourish seemed like second nature to my father.

As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. (Genesis 8:21) Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. . . So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth. (Genesis9:16-17)

When temperatures are freezing, and snow is on the ground, the words of God’s covenant resound in me to plan and explore some of the infinite possibilities for new and fruitful life in the months ahead. The author of all life entered a covenant that addresses human longings as well as human needs. It’s only the beginning of a covenant relationship that would go so far as to present the Father’s own Spirit to humanity, planted in us through faith in His son. The fruit of that planting surpasses everything that was ever pictured in all the catalogs in the world, for the promise of sharing the life of God Himself is fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus.

If the snow and cold of January leads us to crave the warmth and colors of spring, how much more must the trials and pressures of our lives drive us to seek assurance and respite in Christ: Fear not, little flock. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:32) The promises are all being kept. Not one has failed, or ever will.

Love in Him,

Prue