As January dissolves into February, we find ourselves steeped in the depths of winter. The skies are gray. The green foliage is hidden beneath the white snow. The sun is on vacation in Florida. Yet, as we enter the mid-point of winter, hope sprouts and we begin to seek signs of the spring to come. We are on the cusp of that turning point.

Perhaps you have heard reference to our lives going through “seasons” as well. When we are young, we are in the springtime of our lives. As life progresses and we near the end, it is said that we are in the winter of our journey.

In our work with hospice, my colleagues and I are in the unique position to be with people in the final weeks of their lives. One thing I have observed with people of faith is that there is not a finality in their wintertime. Just as we look forward to the break of spring, they too have hope for what is ahead. Winter is not the end.

When I served in pastoral church ministry, I had the opportunity to visit one of our men in the hospital in Erie. He had experienced some heart issues and as we visited, he told me something profound. He said that he never understood people who said they wished they could just die. But after this experience; he said he now knows. He had his faith in God and for him, what was ahead was more attractive than his current circumstance.

As we have faith, we can have that hope for a new springtime, in our new home in heaven. The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 10:13 that, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

As the seasons of your life progress toward winter, keep the faith! Be encouraged! Springtime is coming and it’s going to be glorious!

Blessings,

Pastor Randy