Ferguson: Spring has sprung!

I looked up ‘sprung’ in the dictionary. From what I can tell, it’s a valid word, but it doesn’t feel right: spring, sprang, sprung. Something seems off.

Worse yet, I have the feeling that Mrs. Gorney and Mr. Odom, my high school literature and English teachers, would disapprove. Using it recalls Rex in Toy Story saying, “Now I have guilt.”

However, you want to say it, spring has spranged; spring has sprung. The first sign came before the calendar date. I walked out one morning, and my black truck had changed colors overnight.

What do you get when you combine black and yellow? Google says mixing yellow and black paint usually results in shades of dark green, olive green, or brown. I’m not sure what you’d call it, but ugly isn’t a color I would choose. 

 The second sign? I went to the doctor today because of an ear infection. That wasn’t on my to-do list. I didn’t even realize I had a problem, but the audiologist couldn’t perform a scheduled hearing exam because she found fluid in my ears. So, I visited the doctor and left with a prescription for antibiotics and instructions to buy two types of allergy medicine. 

The third clue? My beloved wife is starting plants in small containers, just waiting for the seeds to sprout. Additionally, she is talking a little more than usual about flowers, bushes, and shrubs. What does she want for her 39th (again) birthday? Snowball bushes, and snowball bushes she will get!

The fourth sign? The sound of lawnmowers and the smell of freshly cut weeds. I mentioned weeds because that’s mostly what is growing in my yard.

Winter storm Fern caused significant damage, but God’s good green earth is bouncing back strongly. Spring has sprung.

And as I approach my 64th birthday, I don’t always feel like a spring chicken (see what I did there?). But even today, God is working on a new season of life. Not just for me, but for all of us. It doesn’t matter what stage or age you are, a new season is right around the corner. It may even be something you can envision before you finish reading this column.

The question is whether we are open to seeing and willing to recognize the new spring before us…  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18- 19 NIV)