After all of the snow this past winter, most of us think that winter is too long.  The days are cold and dark.  Winter kills many outdoor plants and makes way for something new – spring.  Like all creation, we, too, experience seasons in our lives.  We go through our own personal winters that seem dead, gray, and colorless.   The recession, job loss, home foreclosure, sickness, death of a loved one, rejection  – these are all examples of personal winters.  At times, winter seems like it will never end!  

     As much as some of us don’t like it, winter is a necessary season to experience.  Winter always precedes spring, and every living thing must pass through winter to enter spring.   In our lives, there may be a time where a door was closed on a chapter of our lives, and a new beginning takes place.  For me, this was when I lost memory of my actuarial science major as a college senior in the car crash.  No longer could I pursue my college degree of actuarial science.  I had to start over in a new major, with no guarantee of graduation from my memory problems resulting from my brain injury.   Doubt, lack of self-confidence, and lack of self-esteem entered my everyday life.  But how I chose to address my new beginning made all the difference.  I chose to persevere with fortitude and determination, and never give up.

     A little over a week ago, we celebrated Easter.  The cross is the Lord’s symbol that reminds us that Jesus experienced a personal winter, too.  Like all winters, dying was part of it, and the Lord’s death on the cross gave us a new beginning and relationship with our Father.  In Jesus’ death and resurrection, God declares our personal winters are only for a season.    Your personal winter may be long and hard, but it will come to an end.  This is the message of the season.  Jesus chose to go through the winter that was laid before Him before dying on the cross.  He never interpreted His future glory by the dismal winter of His cross.  Neither should you.

     Springtime has arrived!  As flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and birds are singing, I am reminded that winters do not last forever.  If you are experiencing a personal winter in your life, rest assured that spring is coming soon.  And, now you can begin again.