An Unexpected Blessing

The last three days have been totally unique in my history.

Those of you who know me well will understand completely if I merely tell you that I, Katie in very flesh and blood, went outside today, this twenty-fourth day of January, in short sleeves, wearing neither sweater nor coat, and wasn't the least bit cold.

Yes, January or no, our little corner of Oregon has decided it's spring....at least, for a moment. The flowering fruit trees suddenly burst into bloom on Sunday. The windows have all been open in the house. And the thermometer has hovered around seventy degrees.

It is almost enough to make me forget the ten plus inches of icy rain that has descended here in January alone, the fearsome gusts of gale force wind off of the ocean, the thick hail stones, and the fact that Sunday was probably the first full day of sunlight I've seen since the beginning of December.

I can't help thinking today about God's graciousness in tucking a little "surprise" spring right into the dead of winter...and how often He does that in our spiritual lives as well! How frequently in a dark and dreary season of life, we will find some of the sweetest blessings in life. A special verse that seems just for us in His Word, a song that rings in our heart always meaning more to us afterwards, a friendship that blossoms in the "dark days" and then stays on. The "winter" may stick around for a while, but God often has a glimmer of "spring" hiding in the middle of it!

Singing, I escaped the house this afternoon to weed in the garden. No one asked me to. The whole world was calling me outside! It was wonderful feeling the soft dirt under my fingernails, the warm air against my cheek--joining for a while in the celebration of the beautiful, if transient, "spring." A fairy tale moment!

Until my hand accidentally grasped a slug, well disguised near the roots of one of my flourishing weeds.

Then I remembered. I live in Oregon.

And it's January.