A few weeks ago, I noticed the hostas were starting to come up out of the ground. We have a long row of them by the driveway on the side of the parsonage. They were there when we moved in last summer, and with very little attention from me, they come back the same way every year. They go away in the fall and then jump back into life in the spring. They must be hardy plants because we didn't do anything to them and they came right back on their own. The amazing thing to me is the speed of their arrival. On Monday when I walked down the driveway, there were no hostas visible anywhere. It might as well have been the middle of January. On Thursday when I was headed down the driveway to the front of the parsonage, hostas were everywhere! That's really an amazing thing.

You see, the hostas weren't fully grown, just a few green shoots were popping up through the mulch. It's amazing, in just three short days we went from plain mulch to a long row of bright green shoots climbing out of the ground. Even more amazing is the fact that in just a few short weeks, the hostas will crowd each other along side the driveway until you can't even see the mulch. I 'googled' hosta and found nearly 4 million sites dedicated to this plant growing in the parsonage yard. I also found out that hostas are considered the "friendship plant." What a great way to describe these plants that "fill in the voids" of our flower gardens.

I'm happy that the hostas came back so quickly. Winter in Northern Indiana seems to drag on forever, as if February had thirty extra days. But the hostas know something we don't know. You rarely see them poking their way out of the snow. When the hostas come up, that's the indicator that spring has arrived! This seems a lot like a parable to me. Life moves fast and changes quickly. Like in the case of our hostas, it can change for the better. One day all you see is last years mulch and dried up old leaves. That mulch and those leaves may stay there, all of a sudden, there is fresh green growth all over. The real meaning of hope lies in this story of the hostas. We believe that beneath the old mulch the fresh green shoots of the hostas are making their way to the surface. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean that they're not there.

The author of Ecclesiastes writes in chapter 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." God has a way of changing things - sometimes for the better, and sometimes He does it just in time. Jesus said, "If God gives such attention to the appearance of flowers - most of which are never even seen - don't you think He'll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you?" Spring is here and so is a new Hope. The hostas may wither and its flowers fall but we have a Hope in Christ that never fades.

Chad Hoesman is pastor at Camden Baptist Church.