I normally take the transition from one season to the next in stride, making the traditional adjustments to accommodate changes in the weather (summer clothes out, winter clothes in, e.g.) and then moving forward with the regular routines of my life. It’s a fairly predictable cycle, year after year.

But this year’s winter has seemed longer and harsher than most. My backyard is a collage of dull browns and grays. Nothing seems to be growing and I worry that some of my perennial plants did not survive the 20-degree temperatures we experienced.

I am ready for spring. And the long and very cold winter we have had has taught me how much spring matters. On many levels.

Spring matters because after a brutal winter filled with reminders of the colder, darker, side of our human nature, I am ready to replace diminishment with growth. I am ready to watch the stark branches of my trees fill up with a chaotic mix of colorful leaves and hopeful blossoms. I am ready to exchange my dry, colorless lawn for fresh green grass, filled with worms, bugs and other pests to remind me that everything needs a home.

Spring matters because we need more sunlight and warmth to soften the hardened soil so it can be productive again.

I asked three dear friends to share their thoughts about why spring matters. Their words are powerful and honest. Sara Reece is a horticulturist by training and lives in Ames, Iowa. My sister Nancy Tracy is a retired educator and prolific gardener living in Litchfield, Connecticut (they laugh when I complain about the cold in Tallahassee)! Gary Griffin lives in Tallahassee and volunteers with many civic organizations, including the Friends of Maclay Gardens Here are their gleanings:

Sara – Oh my, yes! Living in the Midwest makes spring a season of joyous anticipation. Spring is the hope that sustains me when temperatures remain below zero for days on end. Even though I lived in Tallahassee for 15 years and so enjoyed the beautiful spring weather there, it didn’t compare to the sheer joy of seeing the first crocus poking up through the snow. So much hope after months of hibernation and isolation. This winter has been especially difficult, particularly given recent events in Minnesota. It makes me proud to see the Minnesotans come out of hibernation and show the world what moral clarity looks like.

These are challenging times for sure. When the world feels cold and our hearts feel frozen, winter is our reminder that the light of spring will always return.

Nancy – Although grateful for the changing seasons, after the recent prolonged life-threatening cold, I feel a longing for Spring. It is vital for connecting with people in person. So many warnings and power outages, cancellations and disrupted plans, making it impossible to realize plans. At times, I feel relieved to have an excuse for solitary activities and a chance for creativity. But staying indoors alone without the healthy outlet of walking or skiing because of the below-zero temperatures can be detrimental physically and emotionally. 

Spring brings the welcome awakening of the senses and a return to living life fully. Freedom of movement, longer days and warmer weather renew our energy. 

So it is with the plants that begin with the maple trees providing sap for our consumption as food and followed by the miracles of green vegetables – we would never survive without Spring! Beautiful flowers manifest God’s glory and wisdom – we are always in the cycle of rebirth and renewal. 

Gary – Here, on the border of the continent and the peninsula, winters tend to make our gardens look as if they have been sprayed with an herbicide, wiping out all signs of the beauty that reigned a mere six months ago.

With that, though our gardening minds know the recuperative powers of nature will soon spring forth in the midst of our own landscape creations, we fall short of marveling at the source which will soon renew them. “Hurry Springtime” we plead, as the garden thermometer settles in below thirty degrees. I doubt the plants think that way, for patiently, they know of the recuperative powers instilled in them by the Creator.

Alongside our plants, we too are called out of the darkness of winter into the light of spring, a light of new life driven by the recuperative powers within us by our Creator.

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the spring of 2026 won’t officially begin until 10:46 a.m. on March 20^th. I am ready for it today. Spring is so much more than an astronomically determined season. It can’t be cancelled or taken off the calendar. Spring opens the curtain on the opening act of a spectacular drama that will play out over the next year. Let’s make it an uplifting musical that has us all singing on the sidewalk outside of the theater afterwards!

“See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

(Matthew. 6:28b-29)