![\"Winter](\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photodune-3314907-winter-frozen-river-in-a-sunny-cold-day-s.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThis morning I looked out my window here. I saw a very frozen river and so I wrote this poem for you.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the winter river
\nIn cold and clear December,
\nThe wind doth blow the ice and snow.
\nIn her peculiar patterns they go
\nAcross a crystal cover of glaze;
\nThey race along their frozen maze.<\/p>\n
On the winter river
\nIn cold and clear December,
\nThe tree doth wave her stately boughs.
\n‘Spring will come,’ she firmly vows;
\nBut for now must rule the winter frost
\nUpon whose back the sun\u2019s heat is lost.<\/p>\n
On the winter river
\nin cold and clear December,
\nThe scarf that hides my frigid face
\nReminds me of a warmer place:
\nLights and fire, blankets and socks,
\nHot spicy drinks, and long winter talks.<\/p>\n
You probably know the feeling I described in this poem. That internal longing for relief from the cold, for a chance to warm up by the fire.<\/p>\n
In our discomfort, in our pain, we long for something better, this longing is part of the human experience.<\/p>\n
Ultimately we long to return to paradise!<\/p>\n
Just as on a cold winter’s day you long for the warmth of a fire and the company of friends, so in the pain\u00a0of life you long for a cure.<\/p>\n
The Apostle Paul tells us that we all groan to be set free from the futility of this world. God has set the idea of heaven in our hearts.<\/p>\n
Rom 8:18-23<\/p>\n
18\u00a0\u00a0For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.
\n19\u00a0\u00a0For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God’s children,
\n20\u00a0\u00a0because the creation has become subject to futility, though not by anything it did. The one who subjected it did so in the certainty
\n21\u00a0\u00a0that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage in order to share the glorious freedom of God’s children.
\n22\u00a0\u00a0For we know that all the rest of creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.
\n23\u00a0\u00a0However, not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit also groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThere is relief from the coldness of life, found in Jesus Christ, the only one who can truly warm your heart and give you new life!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning I looked out my window here. I saw a very frozen river and so I wrote this poem for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[394,250,393],"class_list":["post-6172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-heaven","tag-poetry","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/photodune-3314907-winter-frozen-river-in-a-sunny-cold-day-s.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-1By","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":317,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":6172,"position":0},"title":"Winter!","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been a long cold winter in Ukraine. Here are some pictures from Christina's parents in Cherkassy to prove it.","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":214,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/winter-is-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":6172,"position":1},"title":"Winter is Here","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"December 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":218,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/our-yard-in-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":6172,"position":2},"title":"Our Yard in Winter","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":402,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/medical-outreach-in-lemani\/","url_meta":{"origin":6172,"position":3},"title":"Medical Outreach in Lemani","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"May 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"May 20th our medical team visited the village of Lemani which is about 1.5 hours from Odessa on an estuary of the Black Sea. Pastor Anotoliy and his wife Alla have been working to plant a church in the village for the past couple of years. They hold services each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4330,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/dangerous-baptisms-and-bath-water-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":6172,"position":4},"title":"Dangerous Baptisms and Bath water Christians","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"November 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What do you think of when you think of baptism? If you're from a North American context like me you most likely have a picture of a baptistery filled with warm water in a proper church sanctuary. Or maybe you think of a sparkling pool in a manicured yard. You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ministry"","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Capture.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Capture.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Capture.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Capture.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/snake-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":6172,"position":5},"title":"Snake River","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"February 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This afternoon we decided to go and see the Snake River here in Southern Idaho. Everything is pretty flat here, so when we arrived we were surprised to see such a deep gorge with the river far below. We also saw a few ground squirels and some hawks soaring above.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Updates"","block_context":{"text":"General Updates","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/updates\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6172"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6177,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6172\/revisions\/6177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}