Yo-Yo Weather

Who would have thought we could see two degrees temperatures, frozen snow and blizzard conditions one day, and fifty degrees with melting spring sunny blue skies weather the next! But that's what we are getting. One day the campus is peppered with students attired in shorts and tee shirts a la summer, the next they are bundled up with scarves and mittens and winter coats. My poor body is so confused. It doesn't know whether to shed pounds or pack them on. There is nothing predictable about what the day will bring; even the weather forecasters are scrambling to keep up.

Sometimes life is like that. It should be a certain season of your life, but suddenly you find yourself cast without warning into another unexpected timeframe. I have a friend who just retired. She and her husband were looking forward to traveling, doing things together that they had not had time to do when they were both working. Freedom from the tyranny of 9 to 5! But with one short phone call, they find themselves in charge of raising a four year old granddaughter. Who may end up living elsewhere in a few weeks when the dust clears a bit.

Two members of my class have unexpectedly found themselves laid off, out of work, without income often through no fault of their own. Now what? There is no magic 8 ball to show them how far the yo-yo string will go down before it heads back up. They hang on, hoping, waiting for another offer, praying that their circumstances don't go too sour before recovery comes. And it will come. They just don't know when.

It is, like dealing with unexpected weather, less about the hardships and more about the unpredictability. We can be adaptable, can enjoy each season for what it has to offer. Even winter's cold prevents the face from aging! But we prefer seamless and anxiety free transitions from one scenario to the next. Even if we have to settle for something less than optimal, less than we had before. Just get us there in one piece please. Without any sort of breakdown.

Lord, let us know that You control the spinning of the yo-yo. Remind us that our lives will never go careening too far out of control, that you will always return us to the place just right. One way or another.