winter perils?

Thankfully I made it back home for Christmas this year. Where is home you might ask? Home is Manchester, England. I guess Birmingham is also 'home' too cause that's where I live and have lived for the past four years however, M-Town is where i was born and bred. (lol allow me  to continue introducing myself :D) Im probably more thankful this year than Ive been for a while because of the recent weather conditions. Since the end of the November, the UK has experienced what has now become known as the 'big freeze'. Temperatures have plummeted into the minus region and we've hesitantly received an abundance of frost, ice and snow. I guess we can all safely conclude that WINTER has arrived and she is making her presence known like some sort of diva. 


All I can say is that this type of winter adds STRESS and as people TRY and go about their business as normal, you can see the incredible frustration in their faces. As I drive to work at 20mph for fear that I may skid or not be able to brake in time should I need to and possibly crash (Thankyou Lord for protection) and I traipse down the gritted pavements at turtle speed so I don't slip, I cant help but ask God 'Why?! This sucks!'. The season has well and truly brought the country to a standstill and perhaps the most irritating thing about it all? Helplessness. There's absolutely nothing you can do about it.


I work in a hospital in Dudley doing administration for the maternity department. One of my bosses must have entered the office to collect some printing, and as she waited we both turned our gaze towards the window, in dismay at what we beheld. We exchanged our displeasure for what we saw in conversation and suddenly my boss said, "you know, the world's gone mad recently. Its almost like somehow we're experiencing this weather because we all need to slow down...what with Christmas coming up as well.." and right there and then, it dawned on me that indeed, there was something I could actually learn from this awful winter. In the midst of all the negatives, there was a positive. Almost like a 'greater good'. 


Sometimes we need to be reminded of the fact that we're not in full control of our lives as the Winter of 2010 has DEFINITIVELY illustrated. Many of us made plans that we had to postpone or feared that we would have to postpone simply because of an interest of significant importance - maintaining our safety. Heathrow airport has closed for the night. sorry. Trains are not running to Doncaster. sorry. The well-known songwriter who was coming to do a song-writing workshop in your church that you were enthusiastically craving cant make it so the workshop is cancelled. sorry...and as you painfully surf the waves of serial apologies and disappointments, you can't help but wish you were in another season. Maybe summer..or even spring... but this is the dangerous part. 


You wish you were in a different season...One that isn't so difficult.. or painful..or annoying...or tiresome... the list goes on but you miss the purpose or the 'well-hidden-benefits-that-you-have-to-really-seek-to-find' in the season you're in. Yes, you can't make that appointment but it means you get to stay in and spend time with family. Yes, you have SO much to do but now you can take some time out to chill and rest your body. [its not a machine, for real]. As much as we see complications, we actually find life has been simplified and we can appreciate those things we take for granted. RIGHT NOW, there's something to learn, something to remember, something to gain and something to appreciate. 


Thank God winter doesn't last all year. Soon enough it will transition into spring and everything will go back to 'normal' and we can resume our day to day activities with the 'ease' we once knew. The season I'm in will change, it has to, but maybe, just maybe, there's something I can take from all this.......


"We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps." - Proverbs 16:9