Skip to main content

An Ever-Changing Landscape

I meant to write this on Friday.  Things got in the way, yet I'm back because the same thoughts are rolling around in my head.  Must need to release them.  (UPDATE: Just as I was about to publish this, an urgent medical issue arose in my family.  God knew the landscape was about to shift some.  For now, pray with us, please.)

Friday our area was preparing for the first winter storm of the year and really the only second one this winter.  It's been an unusually mild winter to which I haven't been too upset about since it has allowed me to keep my beloved flip flops securely on my feet!  Lucas and I were bummed we didn't get snow on Christmas, but other than that, this weather has been just fine with me!

Back to the storm...

Driving to work that morning, it was a beautiful, sunny day.  I don't recall the telltale thick white clouds that looked to be full of ice and snow waiting to be poked by God and fall down on us.  The skies were blue and the sun shining.  

Wondering if maybe the forecast had changed suddenly, I checked when I got to work.  Nope, freezing rain was still coming to be followed by 3-6 inches of snow.  We were in the direct path of the mess.

By noon, the aforementioned thick white clouds appeared and by about 5 p.m. they'd been poked and began to spit drizzle down.  

By Saturday morning, we got the freezing rain leading to quite a few local accidents and power outages.  Saturday evening brought the heavy snow...for just a few hours.  For some reason, the storm only lightly touched us and moved on.  Not bad for a Midwest storm.

By Sunday, our local landscape had changed significantly though.  No more can we see the brown grassy areas that we call yards this time of year.  Those patches are now blanketed in pure white.  Unfortunately, the cars on the streets have turned that pristine snow into black and grey ickiness.  It's still not cold enough around here to have kept the tree's branches covered in snow, though.  That part is kinda sad because that is one of my favorite things to see snow rest on.  It's a beautiful sight!

Today, things are back to normal, no more alarms being sounded about that storm because a new one is on the radar now.  Welcome to the Midwest.  No worries, we're used to it....

Or are we???

Storms in the Midwest are no different than the storms in our lives.  

We go full-steam ahead, sunny skies shining high above us, birds chirping, cars honking because - well, drivers around here are crazy!  Then, literally out of the blue sky clouds roll in thick with circumstances about to rain down.  And, if you're like me, your umbrella is probably NOT with you at the time.

Life is messy.  Life stinks sometimes.  The landscape changes so fast we don't even get a chance to enjoy the sun for the rain at times.  It goes from winter chill to full on storm in the matter of moments.  And it doesn't care if we weren't prepared.  Remember when we'd play hide and seek as children and the "it" person would yell, "Ready or not, here I come?!"

Yeah, we don't always get the courtesy of a warning.  

But, the beautiful part?  The landscape changes quickly back to clear, even if the landscape of your life is left a bit altered.  Time continues, smiles reappear, laughter returns, the painful hearts ease.  The Lord sees you and is with you in the midst of every changing storm and every changed landscape.

Stop looking for only what you had before and take a moment to grasp the beauty of your new landscape.  Find the joy in today, not replay only the joys of yesterday.  


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Beauty in Changing

This time of year is beautiful in the Midwest. The weather is cooling, drawing us to our hoodies, cozy sweaters and long forgotten jeans. Yards are decorated with cornstalks, pumpkins and fancy scarecrows. On trash days, curbs are lined with bags and bags of dead leaves and other yard waste as home owners ready their home for the coming cold months. And then there are the trees. I've taken a walk the last few nights with Lucas around our neighborhood and enjoyed the changing foliage much more than my twelve year old nephew. I'm a picture person. He's a get it done kind of kid. I stop a LOT to admire scenery. His mind has already completed the walk and is on to his next video game. He is often a block ahead of me before he realizes I stopped to admire a pinecone on the ground or a beautiful leaf on the road. I saw this quote and it resonated with me again:    Isn't that great? Humans resist change. We have readily displayed that ever since Covid-19 disrupted our lives an...
What are you dreaming about?  Wishing for?  Waiting for? Just those questions alone can bring more to mind than your heart was ready to process.  I know it's true for me.  I haven't blogged for three years.  Want to know what one of my dreams is?  Writing!  Ironic, huh? In this past month I've switched some things up with positive results.  I used to wait to spend time with God at the very end of my day and that came with varying results.  Either I'd be so exhausted that I'd only muster enough to open up the Bible app on my phone and settle for just a nugget of God's truths that day.  Sometimes I'd get my Bible opened then be sidetracked by a nephew getting ready for bed or a whiny dog.  Sometimes, I'd forget altogether.  None of this made for a strong me. When the kids started back to school this year, I decided to make a change for myself. Instead of getting up at the same time as always, I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. al...

Trust your Author

As a child, I loved reading.  Little House on the Prairie and the Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke were my favorites.  I also loved Beverly Cleary books as a younger girl and the Sweet Valley High books in middle school. In high school, I didn't find a lot of time to read and didn't pick up many book recreationally until my twenties.  I would always look for Christian fiction, but quickly grew tired of the same old story.  Woman had a job, but is unfulfilled.  She meets a man, often one that is not interested in her or that she doesn't like.  Fast-forward after several chance encounters and several missteps and VOILA!, they fall in love.  Bleck.  That works for a Hallmark movie for me that I'm only required to invest less than 2 hours in.  But not for a book. Hours of time go into reading a book.  Sometimes just finding a book that looks interesting takes a lot of time.  That is, until I found the author Karen Kingsbury....