Aslan's on the move

I am sitting in my living room shivering. The thermostat says it is 65 degrees in here. The old thermometer outside my kitchen window says it is 95 degrees out there...this seems wrong...wait a minute...Okay, the old thermometer may be broken, but still, weather.com says 39 degrees, and now my thermostat says 66... yet I shiver.

Yesterday I went to visit some old Wheeling friends who gave up the dream and moved away (something about needing jobs to feed their children.) Anyway, It was then 65 degrees outside so I sat on their front porch doing a bit of work while I waited for their son's bus to drop him off. Beautiful day, wireless internet, what more could this old fashioned girl ask for?

When David got off the bus, he ran to the porch, hugged me mercilessly, and said "LET'S GO TO THE SWING, KATIE!" (trust me, he said it in all caps)

"The swing" is one of those great backyard swings from dreams, movies, and hallmark cards. A really long thick rope with a plank tied on for a seat. The swing is my favorite thing about this home, and I like this place a lot, so that is saying something. It hangs on the branch of a huge tree in the rear wooded part of my friends' 7 acre yard. David got there way before me and was swinging in a winter wonderland. The snow persisted on the ground all around him, but where I was walking near the house the grass had gotten the better of the snow. It was like David was in Winter and I was in Spring.

All this reminded me of the part in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardobe, when Aslan is on the move and the White Witch's power over Narnia begins to weaken and the winter that has lasted so long and never brought Christmas is finally ending.

When I pointed out the resemblance of David's yard to Narnia, his dad reminded me that the snow melting wasn't the end. There was still a battle to be fought. Aslan was killed and the Narnian's had to fight for his land, even as it seemed he was no longer with them.

There are ways that my heart, my life, is like Narnia these days, but Aslan is on the move. The cold is melting, and while the Spring will bring challenges, pain, and even death--the victory is won.

I have felt apart from God, alone, disconnected and disillusioned--but as the snow around my little house melts, and I sit inside shivering, I feel Him. He's on the move, my story isn't over.

Lately, for the first time, I am thankful that I am not meant to be the hero of this story--I am freed to follow the one who is able to bring to life dead things--the real hero of every story, Jesus.

As I type these words the thermostat says 70 and I am no longer shivering--not with the cold, at least... amid the noise of my chattering teeth I hear the heavy, deliberate steps of a lion--and the powerful breath that gives life to stone.