So here we are again in the NE.  And partakers of the fifth season of the year:  Mud Season.  The time when the water soaked frozen ground begins to thaw and turn to jelly.  And I was close up and personal with it in my back yard last week, sinking into the mud on what looked like solid ground.  And once again the Lord used this phenomena to show me something and this time it is about seasonal transitions.

First, my observations concerning walking through the mud:  it is sloppy, clingy and weighty stuff that you sink into, leaving some pretty deep tracks behind. Shoes need cleaning afterward,  and that can be messy and time consuming as well. 

So, all you transitional travelers, don't think it is a strange thing for you to find similar conditions in and around your life when you are coming out of the winter season into the spring season.  Winter represents things that have been frozen, hardened up, and resistant to the new life you are expecting.  Spring is the time of year when the ground finally starts yielding the beauty of new life, can be plowed and planted, and has the promise of even greater fruitfulness in the yet coming season of summer.  When we have been in a winter season, it should be no surprise to us that things get sloppy and uncertain as we move through change into the new season.  And here is a little observation:  the deeper the winter freeze, the deeper the mud thaw.  We may even bog down deep in the mud and need some help to get through (this has happened to me when I have been trying to use my lawn tractor in the mud season) to more solid ground.  It can become very awkward and cumbersome as the mud collects on our shoes.  But the same God that says He will wash away the dust of our journey certainly can also remove the mud of our journey. And though we slop along the way, He is able to help us get through it.  This too shall pass.  All we need to do is to keep going.  

We don't always get it right the first time we try something new.  We don't always look good as we come through the mud on our way to a new day.  And we may need to plan to smooth out a few mistakes that we have made when the new season finally sets the ground under our feet.  And wisdom would say not to overreact, lest we sink even deeper into the mud.  Nevertheless, we can make it.  God is with us.  He is helping us.  And we are not always going to be slopping around in this mud.  So be patient, be careful and be faithful to maintain a faith-filled expectant heart attitude.  You are going to get through this as you do! and you will be glad you endured the mud season when you begin to live in this next fruitful season in your life.

Happy slogging!