“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens....” Ecclesiastes 3:1
This has been a long, hard winter. While my little corner of the world has not seen massive storms, we have been inundated with consistent snow, bitter cold, ice, wind, and mostly gray days for many weeks now. The snow has accumulated ever so gradually to several feet and adorns the terrain in a white blanket of high and low drifts, ice patches, slush puddles, and everything else that comes with continuous wintry mixes.
When we arrived home on January 3rd from the balmy climate of Myrtle Beach, I resolved to face this Central New York winter head-on by walking every morning down my rural road of rolling farm hills, about a half-mile leading to the stop sign that stands on the corner beside a two-century-old stone farmhouse. I decided no matter what the weather conditions, I would bundle up and walk to the stone house and back. I know the exercise is beneficial, but the reality is, we have a perfectly good treadmill in our basement. So why did I decide to do this little trek outdoors? I ask myself this often. And then I remember.
The more I learn in life, the more I realize it is all about receiving and surrendering, about acknowledging the gift and returning it to the Giver, about the art of letting go of all that we have and all that we cannot control. I know this is only a season, and I want to come through it stronger than I was when it began. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. As we all inevitably face hard seasons in our lives, I’m learning that the biggest (and sometimes only) choice we have is the one that has to do with how we are going to be present. I’m finding that the best way to know how to be fully present in a season is to consider how I want to be found at the end of it.
I pray my intentional presence in this winter lends to my being found with greater strength, more resiliency, and a deeper grounding in my soul. But that’s just this season of winter. The greater question for me, and I suppose for all of us, is how do we want to be found at the end of this grand “season” called life? I’m learning that our intentional presence in life is of ultimate importance. It asks the question, what am I doing right now to be present in the challenge before me? It comes down to the smallest of actions on a daily, even momentary basis. How we are present to the moment we are in is an indicator of how we will be found at the end of our moments... days... months... years... lifetimes.
Not so long ago I came to better understand an icon as something that points us to something greater. That old stone farmhouse has become a little icon in my life. It’s a beautiful landmark that silently greets me every time I arrive, and yet it’s not my ultimate destination. It’s just my turn-around place, pointing me on to where I’m ultimately headed. It serves as a symbol of recognition that I’m on my way home. And when spring arrives once again, I pray I’ll be found a little stronger, a little more resilient, a little more grounded because each day I sought to stay present in this winter through my walks…
to the stone house and back.
~em
Sensational. Experiencing the “markers” in our timelines for more than what is simply “seen” on this plane -serves to remind us of His purposing and strengthening of our steps, our journies, and our lives. Brilliantly you have once a gain introduced us to the Divine within the mundane - the Divine within each of us!