Seasons of suffering in life are as sure as March snow flurries in Minnesota. And such climate shifts test trust, materialize maturity, and make us long for spring.

In the not so distant past, God let a blizzard of pain hit my home that drained our fuel and tried our faith. While the season of deep sorrow covered months, not years, the grief was real and the scars permanent. The suffering was part of our journey of adoption –– with one child lost, declared unadoptable, and another secured, but only after an arduous battle among the visible and invisible realms. Beautiful creations can be shaped from ice. Below are four lessons learned in the cold.

This post originally appeared at desiringgod.org. You can read the entire post at the Desiring God blog by clicking on the following link: The Wintry Soul: Four Lessons from Suffering