Winter is Here, but Spring is Coming

We got a package in the mail yesterday from a friend. Inside was a precious, handmade gift and this letter:

Ryan and Elizabeth,
I’ve been tracking your journey with Grayson through Elizabeth’s blog. I was especially moved by your friend’s description of living with a special needs child. I don’t have a child, but I could relate to the feeling of being prepared for Italy, but instead, finding herself in Holland. I have taken that very trip. I was going overseas to study in Italy, but instead of direct travel, I spent a miserable week in early January in Amsterdam. It was so cold your eyelids would freeze together. I was jet-lagged and restless in a country where I didn’t speak the language, had no friends, and my wardrobe was ill-equipped for the weather. The few times I ventured out it was to discover that it was so cold the restaurants could not cook and only had cold, raw salted fish to eat, and the paths I thought were sidewalks were actually a disgusting frozen river. For me, I was only there a week, but I vowed never to go back. It had tainted everything I’d ever felt or hoped about Holland. After a few months, some people asked if I would like to travel back to Holland with them. NO THANK YOU! I knew it was not a place I ever wanted to return, but, after much persuasion, I begrudgingly agreed to return. It was spring and oh! how my hated place had changed. The tulips were out, the windmills were running, the snow was gone, and the sun cast a new glow on this place I had vowed to hate for life or longer. There was life, there was change and finally there was beauty…only I could not see it in the middle of winter.

I know this is different from what you are experiencing. I only write this to remind you that, YES, winter is here. Sometimes it is bitter cold and we cannot see that it will ever end, but always remember spring is coming.

You are forever in  my prayers and my heart.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Love  you,
Tiffany

This is what Tiffany made for us- it is so precious and perfect.

9 Comments

  1. Esperanza on February 25, 2012 at 1:21 am

    I'm crying reading that post and seeing that present. The gift of hope is truly the most amazing gift one can give.

  2. Traci on February 25, 2012 at 1:59 am

    Wow – that is a precious gift!

  3. Erin on February 25, 2012 at 2:32 am

    Just beautiful. Such a thoughtful and lovely gift, and an eloquent letter. Hang it in a spot of honor.

  4. Amber on February 25, 2012 at 3:42 am

    Wow. What an incredibly thoughtful outreach of support. And such beautiful words from someone who found a way to relate to your situation.

  5. babyfoodsteps on February 25, 2012 at 8:56 pm

    Such an amazing gift…. simply amazing and could not have been better said…

  6. Sarah on February 26, 2012 at 3:01 am

    Wonderful! And what a gift he is!

  7. Jenna on February 29, 2012 at 1:16 am

    This comment is on winter is here… this post brought me to tears. I think it affected me more than the Holland poem has in a while. The gift she made you is just so precious.. So sweet.

  8. Gr8Life on March 3, 2012 at 5:57 am

    There is so much meaning is what she wrote!I love it!!! What a thoughtful letter from a very good and kind person♥

  9. Anonymous on March 5, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    This really impressed me – so right and precious. Just know you are in our thoughts and prayers daily. We love you all so much.

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