All the leaves are brown

I'm not sure I've ever seen this in central Florida. If I have, it's been a long time. All the leaves are brown and wilting. The grass is dead. My neighbors palm trees are slumping over.

The January cold snap with night after night dipping into freezing has turned our world brown. Plants are dying. In the spring, trees and bushes will have to be severely pruned for them to bloom again. If at all.

I can't help but think of how easily it is to allow our hearts to turn cold. Toward each other. Toward God.

Bitterness, busyness, selfish ambition, any number of things, laziness, can prevent us from keeping our hearts warm, open and yielded to the Spirit of God.

A frozen heart is a dead heart.

We must strive to keep before the flame of Jesus's love. Matthew 25 He reminds us to keep our lamps (souls) trimmed with oil (His Spirit.) Otherwise, in our hour of need, we will not be prepared.

We are all watching the outcome of the Haiti earthquake with pain and wonder. Boots on the ground in Haiti in the midst of an earthquake aftermath is not the time to cry out, "Oh, God, where are you?"

We must be crying out now, seeking His face, yielding to His will. We must be full of Him in the good times so that when and if crisis comes, we have oil remaining to burn.

Don't let your love grow cold. Don't find yourself only crying out to God in the midst of crisis. There will come a day when it will be too late.