Seasons change....

Winter is finally on its way out. And it's been a doozy. Many days I was trapped inside, unable to leave our hilly homestead. Others, the grey skies overtook my mood and ensured a dreary existence, if only for that day or week. Still, winter had its way with us.

Yet, I am beginning to see those first signs of spring. Buds on the trees are awakening, daffodils are peeping through the cold-hardened dirt. I no longer have to wear a down-filled coat and even long johns. Instead, I'm back in capris and a jacket. Happy days are here again!

This scenario reminds me of life. Dark days come, but they also go. We are not grounded in bleakness forever. It is temporal. It is the nature of life, the constant, evolving ebb and flow of dark and light that leaves us at once suspended and then adrift.

Each and every stumblingblock in our way will one day be moved. Our sadness will fall away, our hearts will be set free again. Yet, it is in our feeble moments that we can acknowlegdge our need for one another, our love for another and our thankfulness for life's rhythms.

Whatever challenges you are facing in your life right now, rest assured, this too shall pass. Seasons change, people change, lives change. But what you have learned, the growth that you have sustained, the lessons you have tucked away for future reference...it will lead you to the joy that will soon be yours.