Winter Is Coming

(Blog post for Monday, 10/22/12)

Me, Gary and our little nine-year-old dachshund, Charlie, went on a gorgeous two-hour hike today inside the park. It started and dumped out beside a roaring river. As we wended our way around the 3.3 mile loop, we never had to wait for our little dog. He was usually leading the way. The fall color made a canopy over the trail as we traversed gentle, leaf-coated switchbacks. The huge rock outcroppings that form caves throughout the trail made it easy to understand why bears thrive here. There are so many places that would make fabulous dens!

The peace of the wilderness in the Big South Fork Recreation Area by turns soothed and engulfed me today. It threw a quilt of peace over my tired soul one second and sounded empty, lonely echoes through the hollowed out places where I am hurting and have yet to let the Lord fill in and heal the very next!

Amusement parks and beach trips we have done for the sake of our kids. This type of getaway is for us (with the added benefit that the kids are forced to take a break from their x-boxes). They laid around the cabin watching the limited T.V. programming available and listening to ipods while we took in the glorious peace and quiet!

Last evening, after we arrived, I stored some images in my heart (and blog) bank. I will draw on them at later dates for joy and peace. I thank God for the ways in which they feed my spirit. Me, Gary and Charlie went for a very short walk at dusk. As we rounded a bend, we surprised a flock of wild turkeys, which immediately took flight. On the drive back to the cabin, we spotted a couple of graceful does beside the road. A beautiful sunset was just visible through a foreground of jet-black tree silhouettes. Suddenly, in the glare of our headlights, a litter of kittens was there and then gone as we continued on our way. “STOP! Let me pick one,” I exclaimed, as if they were a tiny flower garden. We both knew I was kidding, as I would never let another cat make my Oliver step aside.

This afternoon, while Gary was fishing on the dock behind the cabin, I saw a doe across the pond, grazing beside the water. The leaves were falling so steadily as I worked on, coincidentally, my cross stitch of a litter of kittens in a barn opening, that I constantly had the feeling that someone was creeping up on me. When I said something about it, Gary replied that winter was coming.

 Am I ready for winter? I do not know. There are hard times in every life. Am I drawing close enough to Christ to have joy in every season? Something tells me that if I will pursue him with everything that is in me, taking care with my life, how I live it, what I do with my time, who I share my life with, that when the hard times come, I will be like the house built on the rock, spoken of in scripture. The wind and the rains can beat down, the flood waters may rise, but I will be cozy inside. My life has challenges, as does yours. Some of them are heartbreakingly difficult and confound me. I was thinking on the drive back to the cabin tonight that God knew in advance that I would have these issues in my life. That is comforting to know, because that means He will hold me through them all. I pray that I will address them with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, in His strength and with the knowledge that He loves me unconditionally and will never let me go. I pray that as I face them I will keep my eyes on Jesus, who the Bible tells me is the “author and finisher” of my faith. As I do that, I hope that I will keep my mind on all the many positives in my life! I want to enjoy the journey, and I do know that my Heavenly Father wants me to, too!