The middle of May is one of my favorite times of the year here in the mountains of my home. The trees are all full of light green leaves that glow almost golden in the sunshine. The temperatures are not too hot yet. The air is cool and smells fresh. Mommy and Daddy birds are building nests and raising babies. Butterflies, bumble bees and even hummingbirds are flying about from flower to flower. And the sweet sound of birdsongs mingles with the laughter of children playing outside.

There is one sad part about it, however. There comes a point where I have to mow my yard and cut down my buttercups. I always mow around the little, yellow flowers the first few times I cut my grass but at some point they get a foot high and I have to mow them too. I always apologize to them when I mow them down but I am encouraged in seeing that each Spring there are even more of them. It started with just a few buttercups in my yard here and there but now the entire front part of it is filled with them. Each year their seeds scatter and they multiply more and more making the next Spring more beautiful than the last. It is not just in my yard either. I see them in the meadows, the cow fields and along the sides of the roads. Each year millions of buttercups bless my eyes and warm my soul with their simple beauty. Each year they give me one more reason to thank God for this beautiful day, this beautiful world, and this beautiful life.

Our lives are a lot like these flowers as well. I often encourage people to freely add their love and joy to the world, but the truth is it isn’t just addition. It is multiplication. Each smile you share brings out the smiles of others. Each kind thing you do brings out kindness in others. Each loving choice you make helps others to choose love too. Our lives are like buttercups scattering seeds of love and beauty and making this world a better place.

Live each day then like it is the middle of May. Share your love. Shine your light. Scatter your goodness wherever you go. Make your life as beautiful as a million buttercups. And know that your Heavenly Father is loving you, smiling down on you, and watching over you just like the flowers in the fields.