After the Thaw
The cold had been there for months now. The ice was solid; the snow had covered everything for so long you could not see the ground. Even her bones were cold. Everyday she kept going. She had to. She had to keep going so that everyone else could keep going. She needed to have faith. She kept praying. She could not see the results of her prayers, but she continued. She kept reading and searching for His guidance.
Finally, one day, the snow began to thaw. At first, it was so subtle you didn't notice much difference. After a couple of days, you could see some bare spots showing through. The thermometer said it was warming up. She still felt cold. The kids wanted to know where the snow was going. How could she explain it to them? All that was left when it melted was the cold, muddy ground. It didn't look very promising. It was all so messy. Still she prayed.
After what seemed like weeks, the ground finally dried. The water had soaked down into the ground. You couldn't see it from her view, but the water was reaching the seeds that were buried deep in the dirt. And then, the sun began to shine. It shined in the clear blue sky, and the ground warmed under the beams of its light. Slowly, ever so slowly, the seeds began to crack open. Small shoots of fresh greenness raised toward the sunshine. Stems peeked out from the dirt and then stood tall, the leaves opening and spreading out, raised toward the heavens.
When things were cold and hard and she could not see what lay before her, it was hard to keep going. It was hard to focus. She suddenly realized one day that the snow and ice covered the ground and then melted into nourishing water that the ground needed. The seeds that had been planted needed the water to grow into what God intended them to become. What she couldn't see didn't mean it was not there. She kept focusing her faith on the One who could see the past, present, and future. And when the Son shined down, the hard times melting, the Living Water nourished, and that was what she needed to grow and be what God had intended all along. Spring had come.
