winter does not last forever

 

To the untrained eye these photo's will not mean much.

Especially the top two,

where the source of my excitement is more difficult to see.

But, to the trained eye,

to those who recognize and appreciate what is there,

I pray that hope quickens your heart

as it did mine Wednesday afternoon when I snapped these.

Bulbs,
buried,
hidden in the dark earth,
need the work done in them there, 
where no one sees.
It is part of the process 
of becoming what God intended.
Here in Northeastern Kentucky 
we can see the journey to reveal their beauty has begun.

Tiny shoots of life 
are pushing their way up
through cold, packed dirt.
Indisputable evidence
that spring is coming!

I know what they will become,
I have seen their mature counterparts,
revealed in their proper time.
It is always spectacular, 
though you would never know it to look at them now.

They speak hope to me.

I have found that often simply having hope 
is enough to enable me to face another day.
Winter does not last forever.

When I feel buried in darkness, struggling to get through a winter season, God never fails to remind me that He is doing His work in me. My eyes are untrained. Sometimes I miss what is right in front of me because I do not recognize what it is. God is the Master Gardner. He knows exactly what He is doing. He provides what I need to keep growing. In His time I will be mature and complete. My heart is quickened when I call those truths to mind.

Winter is only part of the growth process.

Winter does not last forever. 

Spring is coming.

“While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And summer and winter, 

And day and night

Shall not cease.”

Genesis 8:21:22