Winter Dance -- Hardship & Circumstances

While on a short train ride through one of Forth Worth's famous parks, I was dazzled by the tall, ancient tree's. Some more than three stories high, each unique in its creation and glory. Each spring they put on lush green leaves of every shade and every fall they are stripped bear of their fruit. Open, exposed, and naked for all to see and they raise their branches high as if to say, “No matter my circumstance I will praise you anyway. I will lift my arms, regardless of what everyone else sees because it's only You that matters. As the wind blows through the branches and the very few leaves remaining, each one responds by swaying in the wind, as if in a private dance all their own with their Creator. Each one knows that God loves them and that God is for each of them. They all know that in the grayness of winter,  it's only a season. Only a moment of struggle before spring will come once again. Each season is a process of refining and a chance to praise our Creator in every circumstance. No matter how great or small, good or bad.


I had the private privilege of watching one of my dear friends in her dance with our God. Her baby girl was diagnosed with diabetes, and yet instead of being bitter, cold, and angry; she responded to this season in her life by lifting her arms high in front of all and praising her God anyway. She knows her God is ever faithful, so very constant, so powerful and so very much for her. She has the confidence that during her dance in life with Him, He will indeed bring healing to her daughter.

It brought much insight to myself as I watched over the few days we were there.I witnessed the pain Angela went through to poke her daughter's finger several times a day, and give shots of insulin when needed. Not to mention, she diligently watched, tracked, every crumb her daughter ate. I would have been at my wit's end questioning God, why me, or why my daughter, why this disease. I would have been busy thinking how unfair. Instead, I watched Angela with a silent determination go about this overwhelming health problem as if it was something to endure for a short time, as if its just another part of life. However, the most insightful moment was watching her at church, with a smile on her face, she raise her hands high and proclaimed her faithful love for her God. She worshiped Him in adoration, with confidence, and with a faith that was solid.

As I look out the window now at the barren trees, and the stark whiteness surrounding them, the wind rustles the bare branches and reminds me of their dance in worshiping their creator. It's only for a season, a moment in time that life is seems barren. However under the circumstances, the hardship, under the toiling of the snow, the roots of each of tree, digs deeper into the soil, entrenching themselves in solid ground, in faith that if they hold on long enough this season will give away once again to spring. Once again a new hope, a new chance, a new moment to dance with our God.