Monday, September 30, 2013

what I couldn't see.

In honor of fall, and the inevitable arrival of cold weather, gray skies, and winter coats, I thought I would post this little snippet I wrote last winter.  Take it as you will.       


       I woke up that morning earlier than any human being should ever have to wake up. I had an early flight. I think I was headed to a wedding.  For the third night in a row, I had gotten about four hours of sleep.   I hopped through the shower, gathered my things, and headed to the airport. Now, I have never been one to tolerate cold weather.. And this morning was especially cold.  A fresh layer of snow was falling, and the sun had not yet risen to begin to melt away ice from the street.  Another miserable winter day in Iowa.  Luckily, I made it through security without any complications. I sat down at my gate, and fell asleep while attempting to read 'Mere Christianity' by C.S. Lewis. I woke up to the announcer...'Now boarding all rows.' Sweet. I looked at my ticket. 1A. Hopefully I won't get seated next to someone weird...  As I walked down the hall to board the plane, I was greeted by the familiar breeze that I had left outside.  It was freezing.  As I finally got a glance at the plane in which I would be traveling, I got just the slightest bit nervous. Are we flying in a shoebox? I shouldn't have been surprised.. Flying out of Des Moines Iowa the planes don't get much larger than that. How the heck are all of these people going to fit on that tiny plane...  I was the last one on board. Seat 1A... There really was no need for the A.  After all, there was only one seat in row one.  I put my bag in the overhead bin, and sat down. When are they going to shut that door...  It's freeeezing in here.  Of course, sitting up front lost all it's appeal with the 5 degree air from outside seeping in all around me.  

       Just when all the passengers had finally gotten their stuff stowed, and found their seats, the flight attendant realized that she had forgotten to replenish the ice. Of course. 10 minutes later, ice and all, she was back, and closed the door behind her.  Now she began to do all of the standard checks and preparations for any flight. I fell asleep.  All that leg room and the combination of an isle and window seat really made it easy to get comfortable.  I woke up, probably twenty minutes later, and looked out my window. The first thing I noticed was the dead bug that had gotten caught between the plexiglass plates that separated the inside from the out.  And then I realized that we had not yet moved away from our gate.  I shut the blinds, and went back to sleep.  We ended up sitting around  for an hour.  Once I finally felt the plane moving, I opened the window shade again.  All I had to look at was the miserable people working outside in the miserable weather.  To me, this is what makes winter so difficult to enjoy.  The ground is gray. The skies are grey. The trees look dead. You can't go outside for fresh air without bundling up, but even then you're probably still cold.  It's depressing.  I was tired, I was cold, I was annoyed.  And I was quickly loosing patience.  But finally, we were ready for take off.  

      Our tiny plane began building speed. From the second our wheels left the ground I could feel the turbulence the weather system was creating.  After a second, our altitude had put us directly in the middle of one of those huge grey clouds. As I watched, I thought to myself, this is going to be a miserable plane ride.  But just seconds later, the nose of the plane still shooting upwards, we were out of the cloud.  All of a sudden, it was as though the storm had passed completely.  We were in the midst of the most immaculately beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.  The clouds as white as fresh fallen snow created the most beautiful canvas for all the colors of the rising sun as far as the eye could see.  At the horizon, the beautiful shades of orange and gold faded into the most brilliant blue I have ever seen.  And to think... I almost missed this sight because I didn't want to look at the dead bug in my window.  

      This is an awesome depiction of life.  Although we often go through tough situations in which we are not always joyful, or even when we feel depressed, there will come a better ending.  It's a matter of how we get there.  Do we want to ignore our problems, close our eyes to the dead bugs in our windows, and miss out on the beautiful sights that life has to offer? Embrace it.  Learn that the grey winters of life are the places in which we truly learn to grow.  After all, it is impossible to recognize good without first having a perspective of bad.  


     Sometimes, when things seem unbearable, when things are dark and depressing and cold, The Lord is setting us up to see his brilliance in an entirely new way. Even the slight delay for ice which seems to just add to our misery is merely a way of preparing us for something great; something we can enjoy and appreciate more because of the delays we endured. 

     Sometimes in the midst of it, we think we know best. Shut the door and lets take off already.  But what we don't see is how The Lord is using every moment we "suffer" through, to make us appreciate each moment he blesses us with all the more.  All we need to do is wait to get through the clouds so that we can witness the beauty of the sunrise. 



 "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."