Springtime Adventures – Jim and Ann

One beautiful spring day we came home to find an odd assortment of twigs in the wooden arch above our front door.  Thinking some trash had been blown there by the wind, we promptly brushed it down with a broom.  Later that same afternoon, we found similar debris in the same spot.  Robins had picked this unlikely place to build a nest.  Of course, we realized they had made a foolish choice.  They were trying to build a nest on a forty-five degree angle, directly above the traffic in and out of the house.

For a second time, we did the birds a favor and swept away the beginnings of their nest.  Not more than thirty minutes later, an even larger collection of leaves and twigs appeared in the arch above the door.  Who could deny such optimism?  The nest stayed.  The curve in the arch protected the baby birds from wind and rain.  Neighborhood cats couldn’t get near it.  Seems the robins knew more about where to build a nest than we did.

Beneath the nest and beside the front door hung the mailbox.  This time of year stiff white envelopes with fancy script often turned up in the mail.  Hold on.  These were wedding invitations, but weren’t they from children?  Weren’t we sitting on the sidelines at their ball games last month?  Didn’t we pick up a car full of these kids at the ice rink last week?  We thought we heard them as teenagers watching videos and eating Cheetos in the basement last night.  Now, they say they are getting MARRIED!  We counted up the years and were shocked to realize they were the same age we were when we got married.  (True, but we were much older when we were twenty-three).  Time had passed so swiftly we wondered if we could get by wearing the same outfits to their weddings that we wore to their Confirmations.

Something about the force of new life in spring plants the hope of unlimited possibilities in our hearts.  At least, that’s the way the disciples behaved after the Resurrection.  They had a great need not just to tell others about the risen Lord, but to travel to great lengths to spread the news.  Setting out by boat or on foot, their hearts bursting with new life, they scattered faith like seeds on the wind.

The same weekend all of this took place, our daughter went rafting on a river in the mountains.  Graduations and weddings continue to mark new beginnings for yesterday’s children.  Spring makes our youth believe anything is possible, and off they go on life’s great adventures.  Who can take a broom to such optimism?