Spring – But Not Quite

Last Saturday…it was spring!  Yes, technically spring arrived back in March but, around here, spring was in full glory just three days ago!  We opened the windows, ate lunch on the patio, and even enjoyed spring cleaning and sprucing up outside.  The weather simply made all the chores enjoyable!  As far as I was concerned, winter was a thing of the past.  I took my winter coats from the hall closet to their place of storage in the guestroom closet upstairs.

And then there was Sunday.  It was much cooler but I was still living off of Saturday’s energy and warmth.  When we headed out to church, I didn’t take a coat…something, I totally regretted.  I was cold!  And this week has started off… not quite winter – but definitely not spring.  I may have been a bit quick to stash all the coats, warm sweaters and, certainly, the cozy afghans needed in the evening.  There is a lesson there for me.  Perhaps, more than one lesson.

Life has many winters.  Those seasons – weeks, months, maybe even years – that are long and dark.  Times when no signs of new life, growth or change are easily seen.  The seasons of winter in our lives can feel draining and even useless.  But, without going into a science lesson, we know that all seasons serve their purpose.  Not only does winter bring spring but much is being accomplished under all that snow and cold.

Too often, I am so eager to jump to spring.  (Truth be told, at the end of each season, I am ready – and overly eager – to embrace whatever is the new, next season.)  The first glorious Saturday, I have forgotten all God has been doing, how He has been working, and what I needed to learn during the winter.  I need the chilly evenings to remind me.  Remind me to slow down.  Not to stash away the lessons – and, the beauty – of winter.  Spring will come – on the calendar and in our lives.  Praise the Lord!  But I don’t want to rush His timing and I certainly don’t want to even the smallest detail of what He might be doing in the winter.

3 thoughts on “Spring – But Not Quite

  1. Life has many winters. I love that line. The truth in those few words is huge. I have been known to try to rush into the next season, but need the reminder that God’s timing is perfect.

  2. What a beautiful post, Jennifer! Your writing reminded me of this quote from Mari Andrews “Seasons of loss, like the colder seasons, are the hardest ones to endure, even if you logically understand they won’t last forever.” I have been saving that quote, rolling it around in my mind, trying to figure out what I want to write about it. I loved reading about your winter-into-spring thoughts.

  3. So much truth, Jennifer. Winters don’t just disappear one day and spring jumps into its place. Often where I live, winter gives way to spring in fits and starts. It seems like life’s seasons are similar. I rarely see one definitive endings. Instead, the transitions from one season to another seem to come on gradually. And I manage them better when I walk through them with the Lord. 🙂

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