Amaryllis Story chords by Christy Nockels

SimplifiedD · A · G · Bm

GuitarPianoUkulele

Verse 1
D 
I had always heard the term
the winter of the soul,
A 
D 
and certainly I had experienced dark days,
but this particular season
stood alone it seemed.
A 
Because I belonged to God,
I had many times over felt his
D 
pruning on my heart,
A 
but this particular time stood out.
D 
A 
As I look back, I can see all those times that he knew when and what needed to be cut away from my heart,
G 
even when I didn't.
D 
But there are other seasons like this one
A 
D 
that it's as if He let me see it for myself,
Bm 
D 
what needed to be cut away.
And He gave me the gift
of learning to trust His hand,
A 
testing the strength and the resilience
D 
of this little branch of His
A 
like never before.
My birthday is in late autumn.
And that year,
I received a very meaningful gift
G 
from my sister -in -law, Kristen,
a very trusted soul.
D 
It was a potted amaryllis bulb
A 
Bm 
with this letter attached.
She wrote,
D 
We have this common thread in our family.
A 
D 
We're drawn to the rich symbolism we find
in the beauty of God -created things like trees,
vines, and blooms.
The way a tree takes root.
The way a branch is nourished
from the vine.
the way beautiful things
need necessary
tending to bring forth more beauty.
We love the marking of seasons
and how we can trust that God
is working
in ways we cannot see.
We know that every season
is named with purpose.
A season of sowing
brings forth a season of harvest,
just as the harsh cold of winter
brings a season of dying,
a necessary bridge to new life.
The winter is beautiful
under its blanket of white,
but it is cold and harsh
to the living thing determined
to grow.
Everyone knows that the season
for blooming
is in the warmth of spring.
Its gentle breezes and warm sun
A 
send a message  to a sleeping world
that all things are becoming new.
G 
It would take great courage to bloom
in the bitterness of winter,
Bm 
But there are the rare and
beautiful treasures
A 
that choose to grow
when the conditions are the
darkest.
In the bleakness of winter
G 
the amaryllis will spring up,
pushing through the soil,
Bm 
displaying the beauty it was created to share.
D 
Sure it would be easier to wait
until the comfort of spring,
but the amaryllis bulb knows
it cannot wait.
It does not bloom
because the conditions are perfect,
in fact, the conditions are counter intuitive to new life,
but the amaryllis blooms in winter,
even still.
It will not look to the world around
it
and depend on it for nurturing
or care.
It will instead obey the
world within it
and become exactly what it was created to be,
to bear the image of
the beauty inside itself,
set there by a Creator,
not bound by time or season.
A 
The letter went on to tell me
that my family would be praying amaryllis prayers for me in that season,
G 
Bm 
G 
that I, would have the courage to bloom in winter.
Bm 
I   waited with such anticipation
A 
for something, anything,
to break through the soil of
that ceramic pot.
Finally one day,
G 
a tiny green shoot pushed through.
A 
Bm 
As I watched it grow taller and taller
A 
and gloriously bloom that Christmas,
I found myself of remembering Jesus
more than ever.
He certainly didn't arrive
G 
when conditions were perfect.
In fact, he arrived in the mid
Bm 
st of a silence
and a winter
A 
that the world had never known.
And just when we thought we'd
never see spring,
G 
heaven gave a king.
He surprised the night
Bm 
when we least expected it.
A 
His love broke through and he shined,
pushing through the hardness of
winter on our behalf.
G 
he has and always will be new life.
Bm 
A 
And that very life he offers to us,
that no matter how dark and
bleak
our condition may be,
like him, we too can bloom
G 
with the brilliance of summer,
Bm 
right in the middle of winter.