in the early afternoon the sun was shining warm and bright
in the late afternoon the wind kicked up, all of a sudden
and clouds came scudding in
went from no wind and almost 40 degrees F
to 40 mph wind and down around 0 degrees in about 2 minutes
I didn't have a fire going because it was so warm
when the wind kicks up like that there is no starting a fire in a cold stove
the kids were downstairs watching a movie sitting on the warm floor
(in-floor heat down there, no chinks in logs down there)
Ben and I were sitting in the living room
wrapped in quilts
holding on to our coffee cups for dear life
wishing there was a fire in the stove
longing for spring when we can caulk all the chinks in the logs
that we didn't get to before it got too cold this fall
(next winter the wind won't blow through our house)
talking about how best to continue with a couple that we have been counseling
we can't make them change
we can give them tools and pray for them
but ultimately they have to be the ones to pick up the tools and set to work
oh it's hard
something about that cold, empty stove
and how hard it is to start a fire in a cold stove
if I would have kept even a tiny bit of fire going through the warm sunny afternoon
as soon as the wind kicked up and the clouds rolled in
I could have stirred up the coals and had a rip-roarin' toasty warm fire
I think there is an analogy here?
for relationships
even when it's easy goin' sunshiney beautiful
we have to be working a bit to keep the fire going
cause we never know when the wind is going to kick up
and the temperature is going to drop around us
and then what do we do if we've let everything go cold?
we sit and shiver and curse the wind.
if we had kept some coals burning
we'd stir up the fire and settle in all warm and cozy
and listen to the wind with an almost-gratitude
for giving us reason to hunker down and enjoy the warmth that we've worked for
and here I sit with my husband who has kept our fire going
sometimes single-handedly
for the past almost-ten years
and pray and intercede for this young couple so new to tending the fire
they'll get it yet
i have hope that they will get it yet.
and tonight we stir up our embers
and enjoy with gratitude the fire we have worked for