This week Mother Nature has thrown a lot at us—mild temperatures, a little sunshine, cold temperatures, rain, sleet, ice, and snow. Now normally in Wisconsin this isn’t too much of a shock. But in April? It’s hitting us hard. I’m looking out my window seeing the nuthatches and cardinals eat at our feeder while the snow is falling and whipping around. It’s weird, but I have a strange sense of calm and peace. Why? Because spring is coming. It always does.

In my recent blog post “Ecclesiastes 3:1”I talked about seasons and how they relate to life. For a while this year I really felt as if I was in the fall and winter seasons of my life. It didn’t last all that long because I’m generally a pretty cheerful, happy person, but it lasted long enough. It involved a lot of rest, self-reflection, building of relationships, some prayer, and a bit of wanderlust.

The road to building a family through adoption is a process. It takes time and just about any analogy for life will work for adoption. There are valleys and mountains. There are seasons of winter and summer. It doesn’t make life bad; it makes it an adventure. A learning process. A time to grow. To gain perspective. Isn’t that what our time here on this beautiful earth is all about? Moments of darkness, pain, confusion, anxiety don’t seem so bad when you relish in all of life’s beautiful moments.

I am so thankful for the seasons we’ve had throughout our adoption process. And the seasons don’t always come in a perfect order or when we think they should. Ironically the winter moments have taught me far more than the summery, sunshine moments. And I know that I will relish in the summer much more because of those harsh winters. It’s an adventure.

So beneath the 5 inches of snow and layer of ice, I know that the grass will get green and spring will come—right here in good ole’ Wisconsin and in our journey to building our family. Our application has been approved; we’ve taken a calculated leap of faith and will be working closely with our caseworker on our second home study at our new agency. Do I feel a little scared? Sure. Do I think the journey is close to ending? No, it never is. Am I excited? No, but I feel peace because I’m certain we are where we should be regardless of where we end up, with or without children. With one child or a sibling group. But better yet, I feel courageous because I’ve learned to trust this journey. Now winter, fear, time or whatever is thrown at us won’t stop us. The seasons have been long, but we’ve needed them. The time has been long, but we’ve needed it. So although I don’t always know the plan God has for us or the plan Mother Nature has for Wisconsin, I’m trusting in it.

Snow in spring? Sounds pretty crazy. But have faith. It will be gone in a week as if it wasn’t even here. And that first real spring day where the earth comes to life with trees budding and the sun kissing our very winter skin will revive all of us. So much that we won’t even be thinking about the winter but we will relish in the spring.

~Chelsea