Spring Song

Sun-Kissed - 10" x 10", Acrylic on canvas, Elise Ehrenholz, ©2026.

It's a bit of a dreary day here. I don't think the sun has poked it's head around the clouds all day. It was warm enough though at breakfast to open the window to listen to the birds. This always feels like such a luxury in the spring to listen to the birds out in the yard. There are some birds that stay for the winter, and even though I am thankful for them, the whole chorus of the birds in the spring feels like such a gift. Their song cheers my heart. The window has been open for I don't know how long. The air in the spring is so much different than the cold air of winter even though I love that too. That cold wind from the North feels like the top of a mountain. The spring air carries with it its own nostalgia although some may question why. A prairie spring has its own unique vibe. It's actually kind of like a bit of a puddle mixed with the smell of dead grass and leaves that have just recently been revealed by the receding heaps of snow all around. But do you know what it does that is not related to how it actually smells? It brings hope. Spring around here comes in waves of hints and then hiddenness again. That special smell of melting snow mixed with dirt is such a first sign of better days to come.  It's a kind of revealing of the future state of things. Lately, the clouds too have started to look like giant pieces of popcorn floating in the sky. I can tell you this makes my heart exceedingly happy. Then, like today, it feels like winter again, the wind blows in and it snows the kind of snow that at first looks like it's actually raining instead. It ebbs and flows this way until there is no more winter at all. This can take awhile but we are all thankful for the first signs that the hard dark season is coming to a close. Even though it's a process, winter has to go, it has no choice in the matter. The sun is rising higher in the sky and will have its way. The birds are singing their melodious songs to testify.

On the first few days of real spring when the sun starts to shine and the temperature warms up and we start to climb into double digits there is an awareness on a deeper level that spring is finally here to stay. That transition to something more life giving is totally palpable and we give a collective sigh of relief. We made it. Somehow the fact of that changes our demeanor. Our heads are held just a little bit higher, and there is just so much more happiness all around. It feels like hope fulfilled. We're past the vernal equinox now and somehow that feels significant, like a prophetic word of it's own reminding us that hard seasons always come to an end and the hope of new flowers is on the doorstep.

In the last few weeks it feels as though God is highlighting Psalm 23 to me. That too exudes hope. And it keeps showing up. I hear it in messages and songs on the radio where one would not expect to find it. That "paradise" song quotes one particular verse word for word if you know what I mean. It's funny how the Bible is interwoven into things we don't expect and it keeps bringing us back around to the fact of it. Psalm 23 is quite well known even in this modern era and little snippets of it are everywhere.

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD

Forever.

The verse that has really been standing out to me is part of verse 4. The Modern English Version of the Bible has it like this:

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil."

It keeps coming around.

Well isn't that wonderful. I can tell you, I'm not exactly keen on that whole walking through the valley of the shadow of death thing. In my limited experience of people I love dying, I give it zero stars, no thumbs up, and I do not recommend it. Unfortunately we can't get away from it. It comes to us all. That bell, it tolls for thee. I think though the way that God is talking to me about it, it feels like a foretelling of something to come, something very difficult to walk through. The New Layman's Bible Commentary has this to say about it. "The shadow of death - the word 'death' may act as a superlative. ie. total darkness, dark as death. It could apply to any terrifying experience" (p.615). That sounds like a difficult circumstance to be sure, but before we all start flipping out together I want to focus back on the fifth word of that sentence, through. That walk, it's a walk through. And I think that the word through there is everything that we think of. Getting past it into something better, feeling like ourselves again, just like we do when a dark cold winter turns into spring.

The thing is though, is that to get to the other side of said difficult situation, we have to go through the not so glorious middle. Hello valley. I see you. I had a dream a long time ago where I was walking at night in a dark valley and there was a funeral procession happening on the path right down the middle of it. A coffin was being carried, on a wagon I think, and there were people with it, but not many, just a few. And this guy whom I didn't recognize said to me, "Do you want to turn back?" And I said, "No." My best friend from school was there. (As an aside, when people you know show up in dreams it's a good idea to take note of it. What is that person like, what does their name mean, etc. Often, God is trying to tell you something about yourself through that little nod to real life.) Her name means "For the people." So what do I feel like God was trying to say to me there? I think that it was a reference to laying my life down to follow Jesus, that whatever I had to walk through was going to be worth it because it was for the people, people I know and people I don't know. That's what's called legacy. I certainly don't want to pass that up. In the dream after that I just kept walking. The Christian path is all about dying to self, picking up our cross and following Him. Let that just sink in for a minute. If that is speaking to you, get on the path, stay on the path, and just keep walking.

Life is hard no matter who you are. We all struggle in some fashion or another. Some of our challenges are the same. Others walk through much harder circumstances, and I applaud them, full on standing ovation. We all walk through things we just would rather not though. No matter how we define the valley, there is a reason it is a metaphor. Valleys have a limited view of the sky because all you see around you are the ascending hillsides. Your ability to see the whole picture is hampered. There is no horizon line to walk toward. You might feel a little lost there, or a lot. You may ask yourself, "When am I going to get out of this?" because when you're in it, you just can't tell the timeline. If you've ever camped in the mountains you know that it can play with your sense of time. It's not like other places. And it gets dark early there. Even if the sun is not set in other parts of the area just outside of where you are, in the valley, it's going to get dark as soon as the sun goes over the top of the mountain. Were you ever afraid of the dark? That's a yes from me. There are very few people who are content to walk along in the dark without a hint of fear or trepidation. You just can't see where you are going. All the things we depend on disappear when the lights go out. I think that's when we need to focus on who is in the dark with us. Psalm 23 says it's the Good Shepherd and with Him we fear no evil. No evil! I want to remember that the next time it feels like the sun has gone down in the valley.

I hardly went to church as I was growing up, it just wasn't something we did. For those that did though, I have heard that there were a lot of flannel board sheep and a flannel board Jesus in Sunday school. Jesus is no flannel board character and I think it's important that we remember that. And He is no wimp even though He is known as The Good Shepherd. Shepherds out in the field are dealing with situations all by themselves. There is no extra help there. They are it. Without the shepherd the sheep are vulnerable to attacks. That rod that is mentioned is a defensive weapon, an iron tipped club to ward off wild animals. The staff, a tool for guidance when the sheep are going the wrong way. Tools for someone who knows exactly what they are doing. Jesus is that person. This is who is holding my hand as I go through my own difficulties in this life, and I keep reaching out towards Him. He is the One who is everything He said He was. Son of God. Risen on the third day. How's that for strong?

What does that shepherding of God look like though in our modern 21st century? How do we experience the nearness of Him? His comfort? He makes it relevant to us. Recently I was visiting someone very dear to me in the hospital. As we sat and visited, an orderly walked down the hallway past their room pushing a trolley. And this orderly was singing a song that God has used time and time again to encourage me, and I have needed encouragement. It has not been easy. But He is One who sighs in compassion with us. Not far away, but near. The comfort that is mentioned in Psalm 23, is the Hebrew word nacham (Strongs #5162). It is one that is not about "casual empathy, but rather [deep]. It is like weeping with those who weep or actually sighing with those who sigh." (The New Layman's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1979, p. 615). It is the kind of comfort that brings relief. This is who God is to me. This is who God is. One who sees and reaches into situations to bring tangible comfort on hard days. He is the One who sees and knows all my intricate details. There is nothing like going about your life and then unexpectedly having a moment when you realize how much God truly sees you and knows you. The words of the Bible come alive then and it builds your faith in the reality of God.

He feels close today. Honestly there are days that He doesn't. And there have been times where it felt like God completely left the building. But all the little hints of late have renewed and strengthened my spirit. Hope has risen in my heart because He lined up all the details in real time to show me through someone I don't know, in a place that I am not from, through a song, that I am not alone in this and that He's in this with me and that I can still hope.

Do you know what brought it all home to me though? It was this morning that I remembered what the guy was singing as he walked down the hallway. I remembered it on a morning that I turned off everything and opened the window just to hear the birds sing. Did you know that birds hush up when they sense danger? They are not going to give themselves away. Not a peep. That is not the case today. They are singing their little hearts out. I just looked up the song that guy was singing because it encouraged me so much that I wanted to listen to it on repeat. I guess you could say it's one of mine and God's songs.

And it's all about the little birds.

Don't worry about a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Singing, "Don't worry about a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be alright."

Rise up this morning, smiled with the rising sun

Three little birds pitch by my doorstep

Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true

saying, "This is my message to you-ou-ou"

Don't worry about a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Singing, "Don't worry about a thing

'Cause every little thing gonna be alright."

-Three Little Birds by Bob Marley & The Wailers

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"Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." - Corinthians 4:16, 17 (NKJV)

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said." - Matthew 28:6 (NKJV)

"I know whom I believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." - 2 Timothy 1:12 (NKJV)

"God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn." - Psalm 46:5 (NKJV)

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"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”- Romans 10:9-10

Keep stretching your hands out to God dear hearts. Pour your heart out like a waterfall to Him. The road has surely been rough, but we are mighty in Him. Praise you Jesus. You did it all.