MILLEDGEVILLE — It is wintertime. I ran into someone the other day, and they said, “Brr! It’s cold!” and I said, “Yeah, it’s supposed to be cold; it’s wintertime!”
I am not a fan of winter. I do not like being cold, nor do I like it when the sun does not shine often. The leaves are off the trees, and the grass is dead. Flowers are gone, and everything seems just dreary. I have friends who like the cold and wish it was much colder here than it is. I count the days until spring.
What I know about winter is that it is necessary for proper balance in our world. While I hate being cold, I will tell you that I have been praying for about a week to 10 days of bitter cold with temperatures down in the teens at night and highs no higher than about 35 degrees in the daytime. The reason is that we need that kind of cold weather to kill off some of the bugs that would ordinarily make our lives miserable in warm weather, and our trees and plants actually benefit from cold as well.
What I also like to do is take a trip for a few days in February somewhere where it is warm. Last year Linda and I went to Ft. Myers, Fla. for a couple of days, and it was wonderful. I just need to know spring is on its way.
Friends, our lives have seasons just like the world around us. Some of us know the season of winter in our lives, time when things are cold and dreary. All of us have to endure those times. I was with a family recently who had lost a loved one, and winter had set in for them. It was sad and painful to have to go about the business of closing the house and giving away things that had been meaningful to that person.
Others of us have times when burdens seem to block out the sun in our lives. Financial hardship can sure take away the sunshine, and we plod drearily through times that are hard and lean, hoping for relief somehow.
There are all kinds of winter seasons for us. When our health fails, when relationships go badly, when dreams come crashing down — all these things can put us into a time of winter. But there is always good news; spring is coming.
That is the thing I know about our life, that spring is coming. Just like taking a trip somewhere in the dead of winter to find a place of warmth and sunshine, God provides those little “breaks” for us in the form of someone encouraging us one way or another. Sometimes someone just comes to us to let us know help is on the way or someone points the way to a new direction. God sends angels unannounced to help us.
So when life gets cold and dreary, do not lose hope; God is bringing a new spring, and flowers will blossom and the breezes will blow warm on our face.
Dr. Jay Hodges can be reached at Jayhodges610@yahoo.com
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