Spring Renewal

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 8, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

It was almost three years ago that I received the phone call. The salesman from my glass supply company in Little Rock was on the other end. "I don't know quite how to tell you this, so I am going to come right out and say it," he said. "Corporate headquarters has decided we will no longer deliver to your area." I stood in silence, not knowing what to say. It was like a vehicle coming out of nowhere and running over me. After I hung up the phone, thoughts were swirling in my head. What was I going to do?

How could I stay in business if I didn't have a supplier to deliver to my area? I had customers scheduled for glass replacement. How would I get the glass I needed? The only solution I could see was driving to Little Rock to pick up my glass. After calling my salesman back and discussing the situation with him, I developed a plan. Someone was supposed to open my supplier's warehouse at 6:00 a.m. every workday. Suppose I left Mena at 3:00 a.m. I could be at the warehouse when they opened at six. After loading my truck, I would drive back to Mena and be able to open by 10:00 a.m.

Over the next several months, I got used to the routine. Two or three times a week, I would get up at 2:30 a.m. to leave the house by three and drive to Little Rock to pick up my auto glass order. It seemed like I was always tired. I wondered if anything would ever change or if I would make this drive for years.

Over the months I drove to Little Rock, I got to know the early morning shift at the warehouse. They did their best to have my order pulled and ready for me when I arrived. One day they had exciting news for me. They told me that the corporate route manager had decided to reopen one of the routes that had been closed earlier. They wouldn't be coming to Polk County, but they would be delivering to De Queen. "I wonder if there is some way that I can take advantage of the De Queen route," I thought.

I called my salesman to see if there was some way to get my glass delivered to DeQueen, but he couldn't think of a situation that would work. "Maybe you can arrange something with one of the shops we will deliver to," he suggested. On my next early morning trip to the warehouse, I talked with one of the workers and told him how disappointed I was that we couldn't work something out with the De Queen route. "It would be so much easier for me," I said.

The guys in the warehouse told me about another shop that had rented a storage unit and had their glass delivered to the unit. When I discussed the idea with my salesman, he didn't offer much hope. The company resisted the idea for some reason, but I kept pressuring them. Finally, they decided to give it a trial run. I rented a storage unit in De Queen and bought glass racks. On my next trip to Little Rock, I left a key to the storage unit. There were several hiccups and days that they didn't deliver my glass, but after a few weeks, things started working smoothly.

I have been making several weekly trips to my storage unit in De Queen for two years. On these trips, I notice the subtle changes in the scenery as the seasons change. I enjoy the rare occasions that I have company on the trip. This Sunday, my wife and I drove to DeQueen to pick up my glass. As we went along, I commented on how green everything was and how fast it had changed. 

My last trip had been early Wednesday morning, and the change was striking. Lots of rain followed by warm sunny days had ushered in Spring. The grass was turning green, and a soft green glow covered the trees as the first buds appeared. The first flowering trees were in bloom. Looking at the beautiful countryside, I thought about how much I enjoyed the coming of Spring.

I love the color and freshness of Spring each year. I love seeing green fields with baby calves reaching up for a drink from Mama. Cheery yellow daffodils seem to forecast better days. Everything about Spring breathes life and renewal. 

As I took in the beauty of the warm spring day, I thought about creation and renewal, about how God created dormant plants to survive the harshest storms and emerge after springtime rains. He tells us, "as long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and hot, summer and autumn, day and night will not cease." Genesis 8:22 (CEB) 

The beauty of Spring is a yearly reminder of the resurrection story. What was dead comes back to life. Each year, springtime should give us new hope. We may have experienced a harsh winter of discouragement, but Spring always gives us the courage to go on. Even when our circumstances bury us and we face heartbreaking situations, the hope of springtime tells us that our problems won't last forever. In her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Ann Jacobs wrote, "The beautiful spring came, and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also." 

Gentle Reader, Spring shows us that we can put the past behind us and start over again. "Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence." 2 Corinthians 5:17 (GW) "The winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming." Song of Solomon 2:11-13 (NLT) 

As the springtime season begins, I hope it is a blessing. There is a right time for everything, and now is the time for a springtime renewal of faith, hope, and love.