Hope springs

As I write this, there is yet another winter storm warning...the snow and ice is soon to start pelting the windows and ground around us. Seems that we've had one of these storms every week or at least every other! Strangely (VERY strangely!) I am not sick of winter yet. I have loved the changing landscape of new fallen snow, instead of the usual mud and puddles that our winters have seemed to become. It's just been visually more beautiful and I really don't mind more snow....until April. Once that third week of April hits I will have a yearning to drink in the aroma of hyacinths, lily of the valley, and lilacs...and every snowfall after that will be an irritation.

Hard to believe, just yesterday on my day off, I sat outside on the deck for 30 glorious minutes, face tilted toward the sunshine, soaking in the rays. The breeze was actually warm on my face, and smelled of spring. I listened to the rush of melting snow flushing through the eavestroughs as I basked in the sun. As my dog rubbed her face in the snow and rolled over onto her back to wriggle in the cold stuff she so loves, I pictured the seeds, once dead, now sprouting green shoots, yet still unseen beneath the blanketed earth. Bulbs anxiously await below the surface to push their leaves, now forming, toward the sun. Birds are beginning to sing with more vigour. Yes, the earth is waiting...hoping...for the lengthening of days, the turning of the season, and the warmth of the sun.

Are you feeling cold... gloomy....dead? No hope right now that you can see? Take heart. There is an answer....life burgeoning below the surface...you can't see it....but it's ready to burst forth in its own time. Keep your face turned toward the Son. In due time, hope will become sight, the hard ground will soften, and your senses will come alive in the warmth of His presence.