On days like today, when the nighttime temperatures dip into the twenties, I miss the triple-digit heat of the dependable Texas summer! Winter gloves are cumbersome, and pruning back perennial foliage is precise work requiring more dexterity than those gloves provide. When fall wanders into winter territory before its time, I turn to the book of Job for consolation:
Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
In spite of the fact that cold weather is a challenge for me in every possible way, I take comfort in knowing that God has His reasons for winter. As we continue putting the garden to bed for the cold months ahead, I can trust that this time of rest will produce good fruit. Spring will come again, and with it the new growth from plants made stronger because of this dormant season. And as I wait for spring–even before winter has officially arrived–I can rejoice in the faithfulness of God, who makes all things beautiful in every season in His garden.
Shalom!
