By Miriam Rossow
Winter is messy! The snow, salt, sand, and slush add up to a mess in everything! I have extra rugs all over the house to try and collect the drips of slush and snow that are tracked through on boots and shoes. We try and take shoes off immediately when we walk in to help minimize the amount of salt that is left on the floors.
And don’t get me started on my van! After 3 months or more of slush, sand, salt, and snow along with all the regular mess of goldfish, old fries, and toys it is a disaster! Especially after this extra cold winter that has not allowed for any cleaning! The outside and inside of the car are calling out in desperation for a cleaning!
During this time of cold, dirt, and gray skies I so easily get frustrated, sad, and overwhelmed. So often during winter the stresses of life seem to pile up and overtake me. And maybe more hard stuff does happen in the winter, or maybe it is that winter lasts so long!
The outside and inside of the car are calling out in desperation for a cleaning!
It is so easy for me to stay focused on the gray skies and dirt piles. I can so easily stay focused on what is wrong in my life; my husbands car accident, my dad’s cancer that has returned, my mother-in-law’s hip surgery, a friend and co-worker taking a new position, loss and pain of friends around me, and the list can continue. Just as the snow storms seem to never stop so it seems with the stress and pain of life!
Just as the snow storms seem to never stop so it seems with the stress and pain of life!
And yet yesterday it was sunny! This week we are going to hit 40 degrees! The snow is going to melt and a teaser of spring is going to bring hope and life to all of us!
Although I know those sunny, warm days are not here to stay yet, they bring a renewal of hope. Those sunny days remind me that even in the midst of the gray and cold of winter spring will come!
Those sunny days remind me that even in the midst of the gray and cold of winter spring will come!
Our God will not leave us in this time of cold and gray. He will not leave us in this time of stress and pain. Our God has a plan. He has overcome this pain and darkness and will return to bring an everlasting spring!
So on those sunny days of cold and snow I can look at the beauty in the snow and be reminded that God has a plan and purpose. I can look to the promise of the spring that is to come as our days begin to warm, even if they don’t stay. I can wash my car and be reminded that in my washing I have the hope of a life without pain and stress!
He has overcome this pain and darkness and will return to bring an everlasting spring!
So I will enjoy the days of warmth we will get this week and look forward to a day that will be forever warm in the arms of the Lord.
