At just the right time
I’ve been thinking about our pea tree and remembering one day this past Spring. There were 27 buds on the tree that day in the beginning of May and I was amazed to see the little buds emerging from what had previously been thin, bare branches. I had just studied those branches a few days earlier and had seen no signs of buds. Apparently the past six sunny days had delivered just right amount of sun needed to coax those little buds forth from the bark that had appeared lifeless until today. I called my daughters over and showed them the tiny evidences of new life.

My girls wanted to know if it was the sun that had encouraged the buds to surface? I explained that there were many events during the previous seasons that had helped these buds to form.

For example, I explained how the harsh, cold rains of November had played their part by providing adequate water necessary for proper cell development when Spring thaw arrived. The long winter, too, had contributed, and without the deep chill of winter the tree might have begun to bud too early only to have its tender shoots die when colder winter temperatures arrived.

To us it certainly looked as if those buds had just appeared but truth is, they wouldn’t have appeared at all had the tree not been subjected to some harsh weather and bitter cold temperatures.

Yesterday, I remembered that conversion when admiring our pea tree, with it’s intertwining branches now displaying their dense, green foliage. You see, yesterday I was let go from my job of 4 ½ years and I feel somewhat like that tree in November when it was being pelted by stinging, chilling rain.

Being let go from a job hurts and this could be difficult time, however, I know Spring will come and that this is a necessary part of preparing me for new growth. I have a lot of work to do to prepare for my job search but I have no doubt that eventually there are going to be new buds in my life and they are going to be beautiful.