As Another Decade Comes to An End

     There are two different kinds of 'cold.' There is the bearable cold and then there is the bone chilling, brain freezing, ear-piercing-screeching cold. I got to experience both tonight. The evening looked so inviting outside, with the snow falling softly and the temperature actually above 25 degrees. We took off down the road with our sleds and attempted to slide on the already plowed hill, which was a huge fail. Maybe it was our sleds...old and worn down and in need of getting a good waxing on the bottom. Anyway, we walked back and I decided to run and jump down the neighbor's hill and ended up getting a face and neck full of snow. It was COLD! I actually got brain freeze on the back of my head which really hurt. I guess my old body decided to rebel and fight back. It was its' way of telling me that I cannot do this anymore. I am not a teenager, nor have I been in over 28 years. In fact, in two more days I will no longer be a 30 something either. That little bit of information is something I have been fighting to not think about the last few weeks.
      As I lay in the soft snow looking up at the stars, I thought back to the days of my youth when my older brother and I would spend hours outside after dinner, playing in the snow until my parents called us in for bed. We built snow forts, sledded down the hill in our back yard, played King of the Mountain, and chase with ski poles (I always was the one who was chased for some reason.) There was something special about those evenings, and nights like this always bring back those pleasant memories. I even got our special friend Den outside to go sledding for the first time. She made a snow angel and we had a brief King on the Mountain fight, which nobody really won. It was just a mad attempt to get to the top of the snow bank first, and we collapsed in the snow completely exhausted. I looked up at the stars and I realized these very stars are the same ones I saw as a little girl. Nothing has changed in the way of God's creation and it was very comforting to know that every single star that God has placed up there for us all to see has never moved from its place. Even though I have changed physically, mentally, and even spiritually, I am glad to know that my God has never changed. His Word has never changed, nor has His promises never changed. I have grown in so many ways, especially in the last few years, and I am thankful for all the lessons I have learned and for the people who have taught them to me. Still, I wonder what the next forty years hold for me and my family, for the world around us, and for my children. I am comforted to know that God will not change in the next forty years and that His Word will remain forever true and right. So, as I say goodbye to another decade, I rest in God's perfect peace, knowing that those same stars over my head, will still be there when I turn eighty years old. And I can also rest assured that I will no longer be tramping through the snow at that age...that will be my children's job as they show my grandchildren what is was like back when they were children. And it will be wonderful to watch.