I saw this on Facebook today and just laughed. Spring technically starts March 20th, but you know what has happened several times since then? It has snowed! Including today! I had to run some errands while Miss V was at school and it was snowing so hard when I got home I took a picture cause it was just crazy!
Can you see it? The deck was completely clear yesterday and now it's snowing. It's those GIANT snowflakes that are so pretty and it will be gone in an hour so I can't be too mad. But dang it I am! I'm so ready for Spring I could scream!
As you know, last week I had the plague. I was out for the count every day last week. I started feeling semi-human again by Thursday so I grabbed a latte from Starbucks and came home to soak up some sun. It wasn't warm out, only about 40 but with the bright sun and no wind it felt amazing! I took my cup of coffee outside with me and sat on our porch swing. We have a rather large deck right outside out back door (you can see it in the picture) and we have a wonderful porch swing that I love to sit on and enjoy. In the summer Mr. J and I go out there almost every night just to enjoy the weather and talk to each other. It's a great way to unplug and unwind. While the kids play outside I like to sit there and read or just swing. There is something about sun & being outside that makes you happy.
As I was sitting there I started thinking back on the VERY long winter that we have had. It started around November (with the bulk of the snow not coming until January) and it still is taunting us. I thought about the 3 weeks we were off school for the never ending Christmas break. I thought about how the kids and I were stuck in the house for a few days because of -45 degree wind chills! I also thought about all the times I spent 45 minutes getting them bundled up and sending them outside to play only to have them want to come in 15 minutes later. I thought about all the feet of snow that we had and how amazing it was to see that much snow. I can't remember a snowier winter! But then it got me to thinking about how sweet and warm Spring is going to feel because of the cold dark winter. I mean I was sitting outside in my pj's in 40 degree weather soaking up some sun because I thought it felt so good! I thought how amazing that first 60 or 70 degree day is going to feel. I started dreaming about my runs this year and what some of my goals are and how nice the sun will feel on my skin while I run my miles towards my goals.
It also got me thinking about life and how life is a lot like that. How some times you go through a long dark period and you think "Why is God allowing these things to happen to me?", "What is the point of this trial?", "When will this trial ever end?" and then when you do get the blessing or see how God was using you or changing you, you know just how sweet it is. It reminded me of the struggles that Mr. J and I went through when we were first married. I shared a little bit about that here. And I was thinking that if we never had those struggles, those times of doubt and trying to figure out how to make our marriage work, we wouldn't have the strong marriage we have today. Please don't read the word strong and think we don't fight or have issues. We fight plenty and have a lot that we work through to make it work. But our marriage is stronger because we went through those dark times. Those times that we weren't sure why we got married or that we wanted to be married.
There is an old saying that it is always darkest before the dawn. I guess I can see how that is true and applies to so many things. Some times we don't see the good or see God working or what He is going to do in our lives. And then one day He reveals a little bit of His plan to us or a glimpse of the work that He is doing and it is SO much sweeter than if He had just quickly done the work or gave us the blessing. If you are going through a dark time or a time of growth as some like to call it, hang in there. God is working in and through you. Phillippians 1:6 says "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." So we can have hope and be confident that God will use us and complete the work He is doing in us. I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite songs. I sing it every time I go through a trial that I don't understand and it helps me to put things into perspective.
Love, Lacey
No comments:
Post a Comment