Living in Minnesota, spring is my favorite time of year. Usually it comes too late, after a long cold winter, and surrenders too quickly to a hot summer. But I love the two weeks of Minnesota spring.

From the chirping birds returning from wherever they went, to the honking geese on our lake, to the budding new foliage on the trees, all of nature seems to suddenly come alive singing the chorus of spring—all that was seemingly dead is now revived.

Something about this season revives me as well. I begin to feel more optimistic about resurrecting the dead things in my own life: ridding myself of winter weight, tackling ignored household projects, getting out again for extended bike rides, and, inwardly, melting the frost of discouragement.

Orben’s observation is correct: Spring is God’s way of saying, “One more time!” One more time to shed the weight of winter despair. One more time to push growth through a hardened earth. One more time to rise above the thing that’s holding you back.

What can you push, one more time?