“I love the look of spring skies,” the man said.

I looked up and saw clouds.

“It is far from spring, my friend. Summer is nearing the end and we still have winter ahead.”

“Oh, I understand,” he said. “I hope one day you’ll see spring in everything.”

He walked away.

He was a hit and run messenger.

God knows I don’t have much of an attention span. He also knows that patience is not one of my virtues. So, when He needs to drive home a point with me, He uses the element of surprise, like a quick one-two punch driven by some of the most unlikely messengers.

I call them “drive by enlightenments.”

This man appeared to come out of nowhere.

He was well dressed, one of the guys I call “suits.” The executive types or wanna be’s normally flock together rubbing elbows, making business contacts and generally doing business every waking hour. This one was a stray in search of something more.

The fact is, we all end up in the same place, dead somewhere along the road we have chosen. Those who believe in the here after know the journey does not end there. Those non-believers simply miss the opportunity to go on. The quality of our life depends on the path we choose and the people we embrace along the way.

But sometimes we don’t get to embrace the person fully, we hold onto the essence, the spirit of the meeting, leaving us only with a bit of who they are.

In my book, “The Flight of a Lifetime,” I call them “Connectors.” Their job is to connect people with people or simply to deliver a message.

While many of us are in search of big answers to seemingly overwhelming questions, we often overlook the “drive by enlightenments” as insignificant.

I almost let this one slip by.

But God knows my ways and sent in a team of angels to drive home the point.

They all live in Australia.

I have been troubled lately by the approach of winter. Yes, I know I still have to close out summer and make my way through autumn. I do love autumn. But winter on the horizon, at this point in my life, is like a long journey on the flat lands only to see a huge mountain off in the distance. The closer you get the bigger it appears. Then came the “Angels of Australia.”

David and Faye, Marg and others as well as Maureen from New Zealand. They spoke of spring, hope and blossoms lifting the spirit.

They reminded me that they were already standing on the mountain top. They could see the other side of winter. For the first time in my life I was able to see spring before it arrived. In my mind I thought spring was nowhere to be found and yet, it was. Like being hopeless when hope exists everywhere.

Of course winter and spring are symbolic of the challenges in my life. Our journey through cancer are like the dark, cold days of winter. Now that we have made it through the most difficult parts, we want to live in the light of spring.

So along came the “Connectors.” The first one said, “see spring in everything.” The others made me realize that spring was always within reach.

I have found myself using that powerful example in my conversations over the last few days.

A friend has a son serving in Afghanistan. His year ends in April. Spring.

“Don’t count the days until spring. I was just told it is already arriving in Australia. You can see spring from here,” I told her.

My wife, for the first time in all the years we have been together, told me yesterday that she was depressed.

It shocked me. She raised her head and her eyes looked like two pools of darkness.

“You are never depressed!” I said.

“I know,” she said quietly.

“Good!” I said.

She looked at me with surprise as she caught the first of many tears.

I suddenly realized that I was seeing spring in her depression.

“You will truly understand the great joy there is in hope. It is in the valleys that we appreciate the view from the top of a mountain. Did you know that I saw spring yesterday?” I asked her.

She shook her head as a smile broke through.

“Some friends of mine were standing on the mountain. The “Angels of Australia.”

That man would have been proud of me. I am beginning to “see spring in everything.”

Bob Perks Bob@BobPerks.com