The cherry blossoms are absolutely gorgeous right now in our hometown. This morning, I fell in love with the trees in bloom at our church. I set my kids on the branches of this one tree — and took a mental picture because I didn’t have a camera with me.

Two smiling faces, bright pink cherry blossoms, sunshine on my back … These are the moments I want to keep a snapshot of in my soul. Why do I ever complain when God gives me gifts like these?

Thinking about cherry blossoms — Sakura — always reminds me of Japan. The Japanese are wild about their cherry blossoms, yet the season is short, so enjoying the blossoms also has a tone of sadness. The Sakura Zensen or “cherry blossom front” is a daily part of the weather forecast.

This website also explains more about the significance of the cherry blossom to the Japanese culture, and if you’re interested in kanji, you’ll find the meaning of the sakura character fascinating:

The picture on the left part of this kanji is a tree — can you see it? Then the character on the bottom right is a woman, and on the right top is a hair ornament. A woman wearing an ornament in her hair is pretty. A cherry blossom is pretty. So this is the character for SAKURA.

Can you see why I spent three years of my life studying Japanese? I went crazy with it — don’t even get me started on the hidden spiritual meanings in many of the characters. It’s truly amazing.

Actually, I read that the “cherry blossom capital of the world” is considered to be Macon, Georgia! There are 300,000 cherry trees in Macon, and right now there is a ten-day Cherry Blossom Festival going on. Maybe we can go someday.

Are the cherry blossoms blooming in your hometown?