Weather of the Soul

The weather lately has been cold and stormy. And in my soul I feel that it is not summer at all. The short summer and rain filled days we have had of late are fitting to the weather of my soul. The weather lately has been unpredictable here - warm and cloudy, stormy and thunder-filled, cold and grey. And the emotions of my soul have also been unpredictable. Today it started out overcast and very cold, then it got warm and even a little sunny, then a big storm hit but it passed quickly and now it is warm and cloudy with just a little sun breaking through. My soul also has gone through many changes today. "For above every cloud, every storm, rise up calm, clear, divine, the infinite skies; they embrace the temptest even as the sunshine; by their permission it exists within their boundless peace; therefore it cannot hurt, and must pass away, while there they stand as ever, domed up eternally, lasting, strong, and pure." - George MacDonald

"It is not the high summer alone that is God's... All man's winters are His - the winter of our sorrow, the winter of our unhappiness, even 'the winter of our discontent.' Winter does not belong to death, although the outside of it looks like death. Beneath the snow, the grass is growing. Below the frost, the roots are warm and alive. Winter is only a spring too weak and feeble for us to see that it is living. The cold does for all things what the gardener has sometimes to do for valuable trees: he must half kill them before they will bear any fruit. Winter is in truth the small beginning of the spring." - George MacDonald

Rejoicing in the journey - Bethany Stedman