“Just wait a little longer! They said the train should run soon…if the ice begins to thaw off the track!”
Seven-year-old Quinn shivered and stomped his feet, looking up with skeptical eyes. It was his birthday.
Meandering back to the farm animals, I encouraged my four children to gather up some animal treats scattered on the ground.
“Let’s find the goats. I’ll be the cold makes them extra hungry,” I urged them to find fun in the delay. Tight on funds, I had planned this special day. Our enrollment at Lighthouse Private Academy required zoo memberships. Now, on my small teacher’s pay, I longed to give my son a birthday adventure. I wanted to ride the train together. The weather was not cooperating!
Quinn, with his slender build, struggled in cold weather. When I tried to walk with the kids through the neighborhood on chilly days, He crouched down into a little huddle, refusing to take another step.
“Come on, you need to move! Your body will warm up if you do…and we’ll get home where we ALL can get warm!” It made perfect sense to me, but my little boy would not budge.
Now, on this coldest day of the year, in our Florida Panhandle home, I was asking Quinn to enjoy the very weather he struggled to endure. Who was this for?
“Quinn, I’ll give you a choice. Do you want to wait for the train or go home for hot chocolate?” He didn’t need any time to decide. The steamy drinks sounded perfect to him. Home, we drove to snuggle, sip cocoa, and listen to our Narnia read-aloud.
That birthday was many years ago. Now, as February 4th approaches, I consider the man my child has become. Last week, we had snow here in Florida! Instead of huddling into a little ball of coldness, my grown son went out to experience the weather. Away from me, he embraced the adventure. He built part of a snowman and philosophized about the people who finished it after he walked away.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Did some other families stick it out and enjoy the train that day? I’m sure it wasn’t too cold for everyone. My children and I would return to the zoo on a sunnier day and ride the train. Becoming flexible allowed us all to find comfort on that frosty February day.
What do you wait for? Does it seem like the rails take forever to thaw? Maybe that season is yet to come. What can you do today to comfort another person? Ask God to help you shift your focus. Things usually don’t play out the way we plan, but often, the changes are better than we expect.
If I could travel back to that cold February day in 2011, maybe I’d want to walk around the zoo with my kiddos. If you let me choose, however, I would cuddle up on the couch with all four of them, sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows, and read a chapter from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Those were moments to savor.
Let’s not miss precious, God-given moments.
Seasons passed quickly by.
Today is a gift.
