This week in kindergarten our winter hallway decoration, containing over a hundred personalized snowmen, came crashing down. For weeks, our sweet PTA moms have been repairing the scene as sections of snow people bite the dust. However, this time we decided it's time to retire the snow covered trees, snowflakes and the white butcher paper landscape and move on to springtime flowers, green leaves and butterflies. Of course, it's still February and much of our country is surrounded by several feet of snow with persistent frigid weather, but in a Texas kindergarten hallway, we're moving on to the beauty of spring and we're not looking back! In some strange way, a humongous, transforming, fire retardant and sometimes annoying tree (that is the center of our seasonal hallway display) reminds me of the cycles and significance of each passing school year. From adventurous summer days to abundant fall harvests to dark, cold (often dreary) winter months to joyful weeks of spring, I find comfort in the predictable nature of God's creation and the renewing hope of new life. This repeating pattern is a picture of life in so many ways.
Raising daughters during the preteen/teen years gives me another perspective on cycles in life, including regular ups and downs with emotion. It is no small challenge being a teenage girl in this world. Who of us would go back and do it all again?! I'm guessing not one of us would relive the drama and insecurity of middle school and high school years. It crushes me when my girls are sad and struggling. I feel helpless, yet earnestly prayerful, when trying to comfort and speak into the overwhelming, chaotic world of teenagers. My gut response is to express deep sympathy for them and then to reassure them it will get better in time-- then worse, then better, then worse over the next few years. This conversation reminds me of the assurance that spring will come again but so will depressing days of winter. Ultimately, my only true comfort for them is to share with them how I've weathered the seasons of life, deeply rooted in faith. Only the Lord Jesus offers us confidence in times of weakness, and often shrinking faith, when we are tossed and turned by the storms and repeating waves of life. I continually pray for them to find themselves anchored in Him, where the joy of the Lord becomes their strength. As we anticipate and welcome spring, even prematurely, I'm reminded of the Lord's comfort, goodness and faithfulness to us while we endure the repeating cycles of life in this world.
"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ." Ephesians 4: 14-15
"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation and my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies." Psalm 18:2
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