“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather (Ruskin).”

It’s amazing how fast the weather can change. Just last weekend, my husband, Rob, Candace (my oldest), and Grant (my son) spent the weekend in frigid Chicago. Every other year, my husband and I look forward to visiting Chicago, “our city”, to attend “The International Kitchen and Bath Show.” It has been a honeymoon for us through the years. This year, Rob decided he would like to take the children. Let them experience “our Chicago.” Well, Brooke had already committed to attend “College for a Weekend” at her forthcoming home-away-from-home, Liberty University, so she couldn’t come.

Well, we had a great weekend, but the weather left something to be desired. Frigid. Rainy. Or, as Winnie the Pooh would say, “BLUSTERY.” Hoping for change, we watched the weather forecast nightly, only to see more of the same . . . until the day we were flying home. “Sudden change. . . ” spoke the weather man. “Spring is coming. Beautiful, sunny, warm days ahead.” All I could do was sigh. Wish we had come a week later. Everything would have been different. 

Life doesn’t always work out the way we would like it to. And the weather, well, it tends to rain on our parade every now and then. Tomorrow, I will be teaching at a women’s seminar at my local church, Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church (Suffolk). The topic? Sustaining Spiritual Strength through the Difficult Places in Life. The content? What do we do when the spiritual climate in our life drastically changes? Trouble comes like a summer storm? Difficulty blows through our heart like a south wind? Pain strikes like lightning? Depression darkens the sky of our emotions? Illness freezes life like an ice storm? The discussion? An indepth look at 1 Samuel 1-2, Hannah’s life and heart. Three aspects of Hannah’s story will be opened up:

                            1. Hannah’s history

                            2. Hannah’s humiliation

                            3. Hannah’s heartfelt cry for more of God.

I can’t wait to open the Word of God and find HOPE and HEALING for HEARTS. If you have an open day, consider coming to Westminster (www.wrpca.org)  and join us for an infusion of spiritual strength. If you can’t, check out my blog next week. . . I’ll be posting our discussion! Have a blessed weekend.