Winter

This is our weather right now.

I have to confess I have been waiting for winter this year. All summer I drove past these corn and soybean filled fields, greener than green, growing taller every day, and thinking, this will look so cool in the fall.

In the fall, each day another field was harvested. More trees turned from green to orange, red, yellow, and finally brown. And then were empty, their leaves scattered on the ground and in the wind. And I thought, these fields will look so beautiful in the winter when they are covered with snow.

Then yesterday (Sunday) we got our first real snowfall. I didn't like the necessary shoveling, but oh, this morning, driving to work and this evening driving home, I had just enough light to see that yes, those fields are beautiful with the snow on them. Just like I dreamed they would be.

But the beauty of winter is not why I was waiting for it. I wanted the cold temperatures to kill all the germs that have been flourishing around here. I'm hoping that winter will be a season of health this year, instead of the normal cold & flu. We've had enough cold & flu already.

The other reason has to do with the song which I am quoting below, recorded by Nichole Nordeman, called Every Season. When I get to the winter part and start thinking about spring I cry every time I hear this song. I strongly believe that one of the reasons God led us here to this little city in Ohio was because He wants us to grow. And now that it's winter, I know that spring is coming and I am really looking forward to seeing what He's going to do in our lives next.

Every evening sky an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You in children's games
And those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are Summer

And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late September
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and what's to come
You are Autumn

And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice You when branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death You open doors for life to enter
You are Winter

And everything that's new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You and how You make me new
With every season's change
And so it will be as You are recreating me

Summer, Autumn, Winter...Spring