Lessons from the beach - a sudden change

Seemingly overnight my beach has changed. Throughout the winter there has been snow and ice, hills and valleys of frozen ground. The sand has frozen in place, creating a still and beautiful landscape. The hills of ice along the shoreline have blocked my view, and the frozen ice so far out into the lake has separated me from the waves. Now spring has arrived and once again there are waves softly lapping the shore; the ice is gone and my view has returned. The sands are once again becoming soft, shifting beneath my feet.

And yet, while the landscape has become so familiar there are still many changes from the summer before. The sand has piled high along the shore, sloping steeply to the water in places. Driftwood and rocks line my walk, lying along the beach in silent testimony to the change that has happend.

So too runs the change in our lives. We plod along, doing all the things we've learned to do to create the change we want in our lives. We see a small change here or there, some sign of hope that keeps us moving, but essentially everything is still like my winter beach, frozen and unyielding. Then, as sudden as a spring breeze it happens. Everything you've done is working together and in a moment it seems that all is new. The ice hills thaw, the sands begin to shift and you can see the view. All is good and right in your world. The change has come as soft and sudden as a spring breeze.