Winter Work

Spring arrived early, and I have savored every birdsong and bloom.  I must remember that what I see in the winter doesn't reveal the work happening within the ground or the heart.  This season has been one of outward challenges for my little-big family.  We don't have anything resolved. There are no answers or tidy resolutions.

I feel pressure to have a solution.  I long for relief from an ongoing struggle.  I experience stress to solve matters in the lives of those I love.  Sometimes I just want to be let in, to know where someone stands.  But these desires are not destinations and the daily ministry of life reveals progress...even if it seems glacial at times.

- Consistently reaching out to one who has seems to have closed her heart.
- Diligent correction to one who is pressing against boundaries.
- Encouragement to the persons without direction and entering a new stage.
- Commitment to a goal that often feels impossible.

Meals. Laundry. Encouragement. Routine. Often these are the points that provide the structure for growth.  They aren't glamorous and don't earn any recognition or reward.  But showing up, supporting, training and working are efforts that aren't wasted.

When we have day after day in a row with cold air and dark skies, and the warmth of spring may feel far away.  Don't forget that the darkness is necessary for growth.  Wonderful things are happening even when they are completely unseen.  I miss something when I want to skip these days and rush into the brightness of spring.  I miss the lessons done in darkness.  I overlook the value of the mundane.  I forget the return on seemingly small investments.

I miss so much when I don't let winter do her work.  The season where so much seems dead is often the very time when I am being prepared for a new season of beauty and life.  I can't wait!