"For Everything There is a Season"

I got a taste of Spring this week.  The temperature hit a miraculous 56 degrees on both Thursday and Friday.  It was sunny for two days straight and I can see the grass again. 

There are plenty of pessimists on campus who, during these two glorious days of Spring, walked around making sure that everyone was aware of the fact that these days were just a "teaser" and that it would soon be Winter again, for who knows how long. 

Well, on second thought...seeing as how they were, unfortunately, correct…maybe they're realists.

Either way...I delighted in this small glimpse of what was coming and took every opportunity to soak up the rays of sunshine and revel in the warm wind.

And it made me thankful. 

But I was surprised by what I realized I was thankful for.  Because I wasn't thankful that Spring is coming. (Well, I am, but that wasn't the main reason).  And I wasn't solely thankful that it was beautiful outside and I didn't need a parka to stay comfortable.

I was thankful for Winter.

I was thankful for icy cold days, when you step outside and everything on you that is not covered in three layers immediately freezes. 

I was thankful for piles of snow that simply stick around, get dirty, turn icy…

I was thankful for gray, cloudy skies.

I was thankful for numbing winds and the daily snowfall we receive.

I was thankful for this long, cold season because without it, I would not know Spring. I would not be as thankful (thankful at all?) for green grass, and budding trees.  I wouldn't recognize as well the beauty of the sun, or delight in a clear blue sky.  I would take warm winds for granted, find rain typical and thunderstorms expected. 

I was thankful for the knowledge that seasons come and go, each with defining characteristics, each one unique, and each one teaching me to be grateful for the others.

As I sit at my desk now, the windows are tightly closed and locked. A bitterly cold wind whispers at the panes, trying to get in, succeeding at times and pushing it's way through the warmth of my room.  It's Winter again.  But I am thankful for this day, because I know the day will come when I will fling open the windows and let a warm breeze fill the room.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace."

I am thankful there is a time for Winter, and a time for Spring. 

I am thankful for my God who created them both.