Spring has had a hard time coming in this year and as my family and I went on a lovely walk several weeks ago, we came upon these beauties! Honestly, I had never seen anything like them before! The pure beauty of these flowers (Snowdrops, I found out later) amongst all the dead, the brown, and the mud from the previous flooding that had no doubt covered this very area, literally made me stop and stare! I couldn’t keep my eyes off this scene, the beauty in every bit of it. As I breathed it in, nature once again began to speak to my heart as it often does!

Do you see this? The seed of hope, of life, of breath, of beauty, of destiny, lies within you, even in the deepest darkest, most bitter of winters of the soul! And BAM, so much beauty comes out of it!

This truth grabbed my heart and as I journey back several years ago to a very hard season in our lives, I could weep at the goodness and faithfulness of God, my Daddy! You see, I felt isolated and mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted as a new mother, not knowing whether I was moving forward or backward! It felt like all the hopes, dreams, the destiny of my life was gone, and wondered what was my purpose in life anyway? My heart was hurting from much loss and to be honest, I thought I was losing it. But then, several years into the searching, in the crying out to God for strength to carry on daily, slowly, ever so slowly life began to grow inside. With every tender touch of the Father’s love, much like warm sunshine to flowers or seeds, my heart reached up and out! It was in this place that I truly came to see God as a tender Father or Mother rather. He was so so tender with my winter worn heart, always leaning in, giving me mercy, giving me grace, showing me truth for the lies I had believed. As these lies were confronted, I began to speak to some dear friends and suddenly things started fitting together. I could feel the change deep inside, knowing that this dark winter of my soul was not in vain. What I had failed to believe was that the seeds, the life already in me, was there, ready to burst forth, but once I saw it, you guys, LIFE burst forth! My heart has never been more alive then it is now!

My friend, may I encourage you for a moment? If you find yourself in the dark bitter winter of the soul, there is One who knows! He knows, He sees, He leans in and is ever so tender with you! He knows that this is just a season and something glorious will burst forth to reveal His nature in your life, much like these Snowdrops made me stop and catch my breath! You too, will catch His breath! Cling to this hope, this truth! The seed in you shall not be in vain! You are loved!