“Mom!” cried Emma, “Look a robin!” There it was sitting on the wall, a fat,
red-breasted robin. The first robin of spring has always been cause
for celebration around here. For years in Teton Valley, where winter
stays on and on, we looked for the coming of robins to signal that
spring was finally on its way.
The robins
there often arrived before the snow was gone. They seemed courageous
and a little daring to show up before winter had loosed its icy grip
on the valley. Last spring I opened the curtains to see the world
covered in white once more and there in the tree was a flock of
robins. Their feathers were fluffed against the cold, but I didn't
see any indication that they were headed back south. They were there
to stay.
I've
thought recently of the storms, expected and unexpected, that come
into our lives. Sometimes I feel like a robin caught in a late
snowstorm. I intended for there to be warmth, light and the
abundance of spring, but instead I am buffeted and buried. Yet, at
the same time there is an inner strength, like the robins. I’m not
headed south. I’m not staying in bed. I’m not hiding from
sorrow, pain and fear. I’m getting up each day, fluffing my
feathers and hanging out in my tree. Like the robin, I've seen
enough comings and goings of storms to know that they pass; spring
does come.
This
morning I read what Paul had to say about storms, “We glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and
patience experience; and experience, hope.” I don’t think I’m
to the point of glorying in tribulation, but I do recognize how it
works patience and gives me experience. It’s that experience that
brings me hope that things will get better.
You see,
I’m a believer in the one Paul called, "an high priest of good
things to come.” That is where my ultimate hope comes into play. I
am certain that my life is in His hands. These experiences, working
patience in me, brings me closer to His good things. I love how Elder
Jeffrey R. Holland put it. He said, “Some blessings come soon,
some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who
embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”
