Just before the May long weekend, I was listening to the radio when the host posed an interesting question: Why would any sane, sensible and rational person willingly surrender to the elements and go camping in Manitoba in May? With nighttime lows reaching -11 C and day time highs fluctuating around 7 C, it seemed like a reasonable query to me! The question carried even more credibility as I sat shivering in our trailer at the local provincial park, listening to the howling wind and watching the snow fall to the ground. Something was definitely wrong with this picture! Where was the promise of spring? Where was my seasonal guarantee that the winter months would come to an end and be followed by the hope of warmer and more amiable weather?

As I searched deeper to unpack why I was feeling so sorry for myself, certain realities started to register. It really had been a long, hard winter. I can back this up with actual statistics. November 7, 2008 was the first day that winter temperatures plummeted to below zero in Winnipeg; acknowledging that it was only April 12, 2009 that the thermometer remotely moved above zero, this means that we experienced 176 days of winter (otherwise calculated as 4,224 hours, 253,400 minutes or nearly 50 percent of the calendar year). Add to that approximately 121 cm of snow, two major ice storms and I wouldn't even begin to tally the number of days where the wind chill factor hit the frigid-zone. I was tired of winter. Lord, just bring spring already!

In all of this, I found myself wondering why we long for the changing of the season. Why can't we be satisfied with winter all year round? I think back to when my family lived on the beautiful island of Bermuda. It seemed like we experienced continual summer. Yet by the time four years of ongoing sun, heat and humidity had passed, I found myself looking forward to the experience of a Canadian winter once again.

I hear the words of the Psalmist ringing in my ears as I put this question out into cyberspace. “Restore us again, God our Saviour … Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land …. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from Heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good” (Psalm 85: 4a, 9, 11-12a). Certainly in these words we hear the testimony of one who has known the dark winter of the soul. This cry for restoration comes from a deep human space that desires something in the Psalmist's world to change. Yet linked with the prayer is a statement of assurance that speaks to the faithfulness of God to give good things to his children.

What is it that God seeks to teach us through the changing of the seasons? Maybe it's about trusting the rightness of the season in which we are presently living, even though logic might suggest otherwise? Maybe it's about remembering that what comes to pass doesn't necessarily come to stay. Maybe it's about trusting the testimony of the seasons as Thomas Chisholm once wrote:

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest.
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Whatever the weather network is reporting in your part of the world, let's reaffirm our confidence in our great Creator God who authors the beginning and the end of every season of our life. For those of us stuck in what seems to be an unending winter, replay the video file that is stuck somewhere in the archives of your experience. Winter is always followed by some kind of springtime. Part of the faith adventure is to wait on God to see how he will define this.

In the meanwhile, Lord, we'll stay the course and place our trust in you. But anytime you feel like turning up the heat, know that you have this writer's vote of approval!

Major Julie Slous is corps officer at Winnipeg's Heritage Park Temple. She also serves as adjunct faculty at the College for Officer Training. In May 2009, Julie will complete her doctoral studies in biblical preaching. Her thesis work centres on “Preaching a Disturbing Gospel─The Homiletic of The Salvation Army for Postmodern Times.” When not studying and writing, personal hobbies include reading, cooking, musical composition and, of course, listening to sermons! Married to Brian, she has three children.