Dandelions Were Not Canceled

Every year I get so annoyed by dandelions.  They signal the beginning of bad allergy season for me and Dylan.  AND, I don't like how they plague the lawn with what looks like grass yellow fever.  We have been spending a small fortune over the last few years to keep them away from our yard...but our neighbors haven't...so...every time I look out the window, I sigh in disgust when I see one of those yellow pests on our beautiful green and luscious grass. 

And you know what?  This year has been no exception to that reality.

A year when the word CANCELLATION has been so freely and easily propagated all around us, impacting everything from school, movies, swimming pools, graduations, wedding receptions, stores, restaurants all the way to funeral gatherings and church services...dandelions sprouted and opened up right on schedule.

Isn't that amazing?

It just hit me this morning.  As I was wrestling with the fact that so much of our "normal" routines has been disrupted and how unpredictable life has become...how crazy even the seasons have been (hardly any snow in the winter and a grey, stormy and snowy spring), the dandelions came.  I thought the latest snow would confuse them and keep them from popping their yellow heads...but no!  They came right on time.  Along with the robins, cherries and daffodils, the dandelions arrived.

Dandelions were not canceled. When it was time for them to show up, there they were, with the same force and strength as always.  The dandelions came to cover the neighbor's lawn with their yellow blanket, spilling to our yard here and there like drops from a sun that refuses to shine.

Who would have thought that the source of annoyance would speak to me of hope today?

Not just the majestic mountains or the roaring seas tell us of God's Power and Might.  If we are willing to listen, all of God's creation is capable of speaking to us. And it is impossible for its voice to be silenced or for its impact to be canceled.

That is the God we serve.  He is the One Who Uses ALL to communicate to His beloved that He is here, even if it doesn't seem like it.  We serve a God Who is Present always, regardless of what the world may say.  He is Constant.  He is Omnipresent.  He is All Powerful.  He knows all.  He manages all.  He is King over all.  He is Holy but He is also Patient.  He is Almighty, but He is also Kind.  He is Perfect, but He is also Love.  He is in the Heavens, but He is also Emanuel: God with Us.

I'm sure next year, if life ever comes back to some sense of normalcy, I will be annoyed by dandelions again.  I hope, however, that in my petty frustration I find room to remember the way I feel today: comforted by the fact that somethings would never be canceled and that dandelions are a reminder of God's Ever Presence and Control over all.