We have had a few extra cold days for Mississippi over the last week, it even snowed for a minute! I love looking at freshly fallen snow, it is so peaceful! It’s like the world stands still for a moment. I tugged on a pair of boots and braved the four snowflakes to walk around our yard and enjoy it before it became that slushy, dirty snow that is definitely not peaceful to look at! I wandered over to what I like to call “the orchard.” It’s just a small area where we planted several apple trees along with a few peach and pear trees. They are maybe three years old, and as I looked at them in the snow, I was reminded of the first winter we had them. No more than big twigs sticking out of the ground, (and me having no prior knowledge of fruit trees) I was afraid they would not make it through winter. I googled and read everything I could find. In all my googling, I discovered that apple trees need to experience between 500-1000 hours of temperatures below 45 degrees to keep them from starting to grow mid winter. These are called chill hours. If a tree does not have enough chill hours in winter the flower buds might not open at all in spring.
So I am standing in the middle of these trees thinking about the time I googled and learned of chill hours, and how it makes me grateful for this cold weather. Nature is so perfectly orchestrated, I can’t help but feel the Lord God, our Creator, the Great I Am in every detail—along with a life lesson and a metaphor or two. There are so many lessons you could take away from the picture of the tree and its chill hours. You could see seasons of life, or you could relate to the dormant tree. My mind just kept chewing on chill hours. How often do we give ourselves chill hours? Especially moms who carry the majority of the mental load of the family, you need to chill! Or maybe you have poured yourself into ministry, and are not producing the amount of fruit you would like to anymore.
“If a tree does not have enough chill hours in winter the flower buds might not open at all in spring”
How many times have we seen a friend’s buds not blooming or experienced for ourselves our own flowers not wanting to bloom? We give and give because we love it! But if we are not blooming then there will be no fruit for our family and those around us to enjoy. And the only way to bloom is to experience enough chill hours. We have to take the time to “just chill,” rest, and look within ourselves. I am sure some of those chill hours will be cold and dark; it isn’t always fun to make changes to ourselves. We get in a routine or a rut and it is easier to stay there. Maybe change isn’t what you need but you could use some rest instead. Rest for your body and rest for your soul. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29
Chilling was so important to God, in fact, that He took a whole day of rest after creating the world and commanded us to rest one day a week in remembrance. Why? Because God knows what we need in order to bloom, just like He knows how many chill hours my trees need to produce fruit.
Don’t feel guilty for needing time to chill, spring is coming and you are going to bloom bigger than ever before!
p.s. If you're a nerd like me and want to know more about apple trees and chill hours, here's a link.
p.p.s. If you need an idea for some chill hours, here's a link to my favorite worship playlist. I LOVE playing this to go to sleep to.
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