Enjoying Winter

I enjoyed the snow today. I didn’t so much enjoy during my hour-long morning commute yesterday. I definitely didn’t enjoy it going in and out of patients’ houses in the middle of the night. But today, quite surprisingly, I enjoyed the snow–maybe even the colder temperatures. I have been dreading this season for weeks, wishing and hoping that a winter miracle might occur and we would enjoy the entire season without snow and cold. But while driving across town today, I was so grateful for the snow and how it reminded me that it truly was winter.

Life is like the changing seasons. Each chapter brings a new season and just as most of us spend our time waiting for winter to pass and for spring to come in regards to the weather, we often spend our lives waiting for the signs of new life in our hearts; waiting for the proof that God is still at work in our lives.

Lately, I have been pretending that my life is in the season of spring when really I am in the dead middle of winter. I have been so aware of God’s goodness in my life recently. I feel as if every small blessing is God’s gift directly to me. While some may think this to be haughty of me, I believe that is how God wants us to view our lives. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. The warm temperatures and lack of snow this winter were just what I needed to finish up home-improvement projects, pack up, and move out of my house. I was so grateful that God provided for me in that way. All the warm temperatures and rain have made me believe that this is spring. It feels like March and April in Minnesota, shouldn’t it be spring in my life as well??

But as I was driving across town today, I was struck with the feeling of winter. Strangely, it wasn’t a feeling of despair, but a feeling of peace and serenity. It was a time to slow down, a time to hibernate, a time to stay inside and be warm, a time for family and loved ones. In that moment, I realized that God had extended autumn for me. He gave me a beautiful season of closure in Albert Lea. He provided for me and He had poured out His love to me through His people – it was a time in my life as beautiful as the autumn leaves. And now, I anticipated spring. I expected the starting of a new chapter, the wonder of new life and a new season of growth. But, I had forgotten about winter. We all hate winter – but it has its place in the circle of seasons. Nichole Nordeman, in her song Every Season, explains that winter is beautiful because “even now in death, You open doors for life to enter.” God is giving me this season of winter in my life to allow me the time to process, let certain things in my life die so that God gave bring spring into my heart and life.

I had already become weary. I had seen an enormous amount of movement from God in the past year of my life. And after living in Rochester for only two short weeks, I have already started to notice discouragement creep into my heart. Where is God? Why hasn’t He opened the next door? What is my purpose in this season and what does the next chapter hold? It had only been two weeks and I was coming down with a horrible case of spring fever. But I must remind myself that this is not March, it is still the dead of January in the calendar of my life. God has set me in this season and when He is ready to surface the green of spring in my life, He will - but not a moment before He wants to do so. My job is to enjoy winter.

How does one enjoy winter when it comes to the seasons of life? The very same way we enjoy the winter when it comes to the seasons of the year. As the temperatures turn colder and the air becomes crisp, we look forward to early evenings tucked in at home, home-cooked meals, baked goods, fun in snow, delight in the eyes of children when a snow day is announced, and most of all the we enjoy the beauty of a warmth that comes from within even on the coldest of days. God has given me this season of winter and at first it seems dreary and miserably cold, but it is an opportunity to rest, to curl up by the fire place with a good book, to spend time with some wonderful, beautiful, and encouraging friends. It’s a time to hibernate knowing that God still has something big for me – a new opportunity to glorify Him – waiting just around the corner.

What we so often hate about winter is that it seems to last forever, we lose hope that spring will ever come. And I am sure that I will become discouraged about winter at some point, but it is said that “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn” (Hal Borland). God has a time and purpose for every season and I have two choices during this time. I can chose to focus on how late springs seems to be during this year of my life or I can chose to praise God for the beauty that is found in winter. So, today as I enjoy the snow, I chose to enjoy this season knowing that God has not forgotten and this is the season He has ordained for this time in my life.