In the Bleak Midwinter - HOPE!

(this is a re-post...for some reason the original was changed)

In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone
Snow had fallen, snow, on snow, on snow
in the bleak midwinter, long ago
Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain
Heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign
In the bleak midwinter, a stable place suffice
The Lord God, Jesus Christ
 

- Christina G. Rossetti, 1830-1894 

 

 

 I remember taking these photos the day before Thanksgiving 2010.  That was the year we huddled up in a cold cabin hoping power would be restored within the next 48 hours.  We were grateful for the heat provided by the fireplace and the little generator in the garage allowing a small lamp to stay lit during the night.  It was a storm of fierce magnitude!  As my husband, Ken, and son, Ben, made their way up the mountain the day before us, cascading waterfalls jeweled in the frozen hills greeted them in silent protest.  Occasionally  they'd pull over to clear the window of snow.  Ken is accustomed to driving in those conditions and I feel confident when he is at the wheel that we will arrive home safe.  We have many friends that make the same trip every year for Thanksgiving and stay in nearby cabins.  Most did not come that year or left early to avoid weathering the storm.  We stayed; there was something commanding and austere about walking the quiet paths burdened with white...God is big.

I remember one other time I was in a snow storm like that.  It was early January. Ken and I were traveling from the St. Paul/ Minneapolis Airport to a small town in northern Minnesota.  We had 6 month old Ben with us and no idea how bad the storm would get.  The snow drifts were high enough to keep us from distinguishing the road from a front yard or a store parking lot.  We were looking for a tiny little street in a tiny little town.  Every few yards I would hop out of the car and clear off a mail box to try and get a gauge as to our whereabouts.  We were running out of food for Ben and the gas was low in the car…we soon realized is was going to take an act of God to get us to the right place and out of this storm. 

These storms came during a time when I was facing significant “life storms” too.  I can’t help but wonder if God did that to remind me that He is at the wheel and I could rest confident that He would bring me home safe.  Ken and I quipped while we were at the cabin in 2010 that we could not wait  to bid farewell to the past 12 ferocious months and ring in the new year because 2011 had to be better….2011 wasn’t better it was actually worse.  So was 2012.  But somewhere in it God kept an inner lamp lit.  The night was indeed cold and dark. At times it required us to "pull over" for a bit and clear the window of our thoughts to see the path a little better.  But staying present with Him in the storm, much like we huddled around the fire place that year for warmth, helped us. Things like prayer, fasting, conversations with others, honest expressions of our emotions and thoughts, etc. were things God used to help us let go of lesser "loves" that were competing with the love He had to offer.   In recent posts I’ve talked a lot about storms and I don’t need to repeat it all, except to say, 2013 has been different.  I guess that's why I picked this post and Rossini's poem for this advent day.  After such a season of storms, little green shoots have begun to pop up from the dormant, snow-laden ground.  Christ is being born anew in my heart and in the hearts of those who have weathered a similar journey and it has brought …HOPE.

Remember the blizzard car ride in Minnesota?  Just about the time I was really getting worried, I happened to glance over to a snow-covered house.  It drew my attention because the lights were on inside and there was a fire in the fireplace – It looked like it belonged on a Burle & Ives Christmas card.  And in one short glance I saw a little girl pop up into the window and back down  as she bounced on the couch inside.  It was as quick as a wink but I knew it was our friend’s little girl, Jenneke!  OH what relief that sight brought! 

“I can’t believe you made it!  Oh my goodness!  How did you ever get here?!”  They said. 

To which a replied, “God turned my head and I saw Janneke in your window!"…HOPE

Sometimes there’s a bleak mid-winter that rests itself upon us. Where snow falls, “snow, on snow, on snow” But there’s also a God that “heaven cannot hold nor earth sustain” .  He is the one who brings the warmth, keeps the lamp-light lit, and in just the right time turns our head so we may see… HOPE

The link  below is a beautiful arrangement of the song, In the Bleak Midwinter http://youtu.be/4zAgEt6sCMA