The flurries earlier this month are giving way to snowy pear blossoms.  Although the calendar doesn’t reflect it, Texas is kicking off her winter blanket in exchange for spring’s multi-hued quilt.  The following is a list of blooms, both literal and figurative, in my garden this month.

*  Beef stew and tulips, carried in loving arms, through the snow, to our doorstep

*  My dear friend, a widow, crying for joy because a stranger gave her flowers on Valentine’s Day

*  Loving a baby girl at first sight and being able to pray for her heart to be healed

*  Sleeping on a top bunk, but not until my friend and I had talked and laughed our way past midnight at a women’s retreat

*  Celebrating Mama’s major work achievement with songs and poetry and Italian food

*  Carolina Jessamine – I like this vine because it is evergreen and it heralds spring with its cheery, sweet-scented blossoms in late winter year after year.

*  A dinner with my Valentine in front of a fireplace

*  Enjoy Life® chocolate chips placed in a heart-shaped box by my hubby

*  Receiving a teenage Valentine by mistake 🙂

*  Watching big snowflakes drift to earth  (This one fell on my pink coat!)

*  The man, who had just met us, who ran home to root through his freezer for a corn-free pizza so my son could enjoy a version of what everyone else at the party was eating, without getting sick

*  ‘Aristocrat’ Pear —  Next week, this tree will join its cousin, the Bradford, in  transforming our winter-weary street into a bridal procession.  Right now, it is covered in promising buds, and I can already detect its pungent odor.  (Ornamental pear blossoms are best admired from inside a window to avoid the stench. 🙂 )

*  A homeless woman beneath a shawl and these convicting lyrics from the Caedmon’s Call song, “This World”  —   “And the least of these look like criminals to me, and so I leave Christ on the street.”

*  The gardener within me reawakening with the urge to prune the rose bushes.  (They are already leafing out.  See the newborn red leaves!)

*  Sewing a beard for my son’s John Muir costume

*  Gluten-free corn cake made by my thoughtful friend

*  Whispering Jesus’s sweet name and feeling His loving presence

*  Coral honeysuckle —  I planted this because Japanese honeysuckle, with its intoxicating aroma, is difficult to keep in bounds.  This scentless version, however, remains a mannerly vine with vibrant tubular blooms.

*  Holding my mesmerized Little One during a puppet show at the library

*  The opportunity to learn from Kathi Appelt

*  chickadees at the bird feeder

*  Walking beside daffodils on a cold, sunny day with friends  (Yes, dear Wordsworth, I thought of you!)

Thank you, Lord, for all the gifts you bestow.