Background

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Salt Lake Reflection


When we went to Salt Lake for a weekend in March, something struck me. We had left sunny, seemingly summer, Texas weather and had traveled to a place that was still experiencing winter. The signs were everywhere, trees without leaves, snow on the mountaintops, yellowing grass. What occurred to me in the morning moments of looking out at the barren trees, was how God has ordained seasons for particular times all around the world. Some seasons last longer than others. It made me remember that just because I was living in summer, it didn’t mean that the rest of the world was too.

I have always thought of winter as being the season where things die and disappear. But what I realized was the things I thought were dead in winter were really alive. The only reason I thought they were dead is because I could not see the life on the outside. I was depending on what I saw to be the judge of whether something had life, when in reality, that life is being transformed on the inside to produce something even more beautiful than the season before.

When we are tempted to think of our own period of winter and mourning as leaving us stagnant and barren, we must remember that just because the signs of life are not apparent on the outside, God is still breathing His life into us and growing us into something that will be beautiful again. Being in Salt Lake also helped me remember to be sensitive to those who are in a season of winter even though I might be living in summer.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

:-)

Chris and Kim said...

You are both such an inspiration to us. We are so thankful to have such wonderful and God-fearing family members to help guide us on our way. We hope that we can be as much an inspiration to you both as you have been to us! We love ya'll!

M & M said...

I am so proud of you for posting again! And I think the reflections on winter are a wonderful reminder too!

Joy Khader said...

Great reflection! So true. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! love you :)

Christy said...

Thanks for that! I'd almost forgotten how wonderful words can be in expressing 2 totally different ideas, but relating them so perfectly to each other that you'd think that was what was intended for the ideas all along.

Also, it's a reminder that I've needed...that I'm not the only one in a winter phase & I need to be sensitive to that, even if the people closest to me are all in their "summers."

BTW: Come visit The Music Rack...we miss you both!

Christy said...

Thanks for that! I'd almost forgotten how wonderful words can be in expressing 2 totally different ideas, but relating them so perfectly to each other that you'd think that was what was intended for the ideas all along.

Also, it's a reminder that I've needed...that I'm not the only one in a winter phase & I need to be sensitive to that, even if the people closest to me are all in their "summers."

BTW: Come visit The Music Rack...we miss you both!