After years of trying to go back, last month I finally made it to Nashville for fall break. I completely fell in love with the city once again and loved every second of the trip. While I was there I got a reminder email that my post for More To Be would be due as soon as I returned.
So full from the trip, I wasn’t sure what to write about. What did God want me to share with His girls? I knew the post would go up in November and I had already written a Thanksgiving piece for (in)courage.
But a few emails came in from a long-ago friend and I knew. Someone out there needs to hear this one piece of truth, just as badly as I need to remember it time and again myself:
In every season there is hope.
Fall is beautiful and glorious and it’s my very favorite. But winter comes right after with its dark nights and chilly days. It’s so easy to feel stuck in winter. I know, I’ve been there.
But I’ve learned that spring always comes. Always.
Sometimes there are little pockets of spring and sometimes it stays for a good, long season. In the midst of this I learned something else, too. My winter lasted for four years and I’ve truly never been so lonely and hurting in my life. BUT – In this season of winter God molded me, taught me, grew me, and loved me so hard. There was so much to be thankful for even in the winter.
That’s what this is about. Every season of life, no matter what we’re going through, holds hope.
*****
The changing of the seasons has begun.
The crisp weather allows for afternoon walks in the park with good friends while sipping a warm pumpkin spice latte. Everything is a little bit magical, from the laughter of children to the delicious smell of coffee shops. With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, it’s as if all of humanity has silently agreed to step back, pause, and remember the little joys in life – even just for a moment.
But the leaves will fall. Winter is coming.
…..
We don’t always know when or how, but we are promised that there will be valleys, moments when we feel tired and parched, weary and ready for the next season to hurry up and arrive. We forget that winter brings its own gifts: hot chocolate and snowball fights, red cheeks and frozen fingers from caroling house to house.
He is never absent in winter. Things may feel dry and empty, but be refreshed… Winter is a time of working, for right after winter comes spring – new life!
…..
I’ve spent years in a long, lonely season of winter, longingly waiting for any sign that spring might be coming. There didn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and I had all but resigned myself to living in a perpetual state of winter.
It’s funny, though, because it was during this season that God was ever near my side. In the valley of winter He strengthened me by providing Himself – He covered all my needs, even when I couldn’t see through the fog to the next day.
No matter the season, even when our knees are bruised from hitting the floor in prayer time and again, we can trust and worship the One who created it to be in the first place. {click to tweet}
Because it’s not really about the season – it’s about the One who is always in control.
*****
To read the full story, click here. Thanks for sticking with me through the seasons, friends. I’m so very thankful for this place.
