Will Your Winter Ever End?

My old journals remind me that I have lived through many seasons in my lifetime.

There has been the springtime of childhood and adolescence, then the early summertime years spent getting my own education; then courtship and marriage. There were some challenging days of marriage; then motherhood and getting our children parented and educated. Before we knew it, fall had come. James and I were grandparents, and then great-grandparents!

There have been my years as a Bible teacher and author and song writer. James walked away from his years as a general contractor, and loved his years as a custom spur maker! We shared over twenty great years of his retirement before illness caught up with him, followed by his death six years ago. For me, winter arrived. Winter. A season of death and of loss. Oh, I have survived the seasons. Many hard things are forever behind me now.

In Ecclesiastes 3 we read “ To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die…..” Whatever your age, whatever season of life you are in today, God speaks the words of Jeremiah 29:11. “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord; plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

I wondered if my winter would ever pass, but with the seasons come days of renewal. Suddenly spring busts out all over! For me, the time came for a new beginning!! Last spring I left the home James and I had shared for forty-eight years, and moved to a new little town to be close to my family. For me, it has been quite a journey.

I think I am becoming better at living in the present rather than dwelling on the past. I practice valuing every one of these days, and pray that I will use them to fulfill God’s call on my life. I trust that as each day unfolds I will see the miracles of God’s love and grace.

What season do you find yourself in today? How are you experiencing it? Be watching for an announcement concerning our spring semester Bible class. It will be starting soon. I invite you to come share your journey with us. For me, morning has broken to an azure sky streaked with apricot clouds. Two blue jays are early visitors to our bird feeder. I am so grateful for the promise of this day!

-Marjorie