The Lantern In The Window

I stand at the window of our little home on the plains. Behind me the fire burns warm and strong behind the hearth. I am warm, I am safe...I am warm and I am safe, but my heart, my soul, my mind, is outside this window. Its outside this window because someone I love is out in the storm.

Outside the storm rages. That dark, black cloud bank had appeared in the west and had climbed all day toward our little farmstead on the plains of the west. Then the snow started to fall thick, the north winds howl around the little house, beating at its walls, its windows, its door, threating to break in. But I was safe and warm, but he had gone outside into the storm to put the milk cow and the horses into the barn.

I stood there at the window, looking out into the raging storm, watching for the small flicker of his lantern telling me he is coming home, but I see nothing. What can I do? How can I help? I want to fling open the door and run out into the storm...screaming his name...looking around for him. It is so hard to stay inside because my love is out in the storm. My heart is out in the storm.

I want to go out but what would happen if I too got lost and we both perished? No I have to stay in. My heart is telling me to go to him...it wants to be in his arms, but my mind is telling me to stay. So I turn and go to the kitchen table. I light the old kerosene lantern. I carry it back through the dark little house and hold it there just inside the window. I hold it there as it shines its little steady light out into the blackness of the storm. Its soft warm flicker is the only hope left in my heart that  he will find his way back to me. So I hold it there. It seems so small. It doesn't speck a word to me. It can't throw its arms around me and comfort me. It can't tell my "he will be ok." It depends upon me to hold it there in the window.

It can't do any of those things, but it can shine. It can cast its soft glow out into the storm. It can be a beacon for my husband. It can bring him home to me. So I hold it there and wait.

Outside he is lost. The snow is beating at his face and body. The wind had blown out his lantern. He doesn't know which way to go, so he stands still just outside the barn door, just waiting...will she remember to put the lantern in the window? He stands there looking into the raging storm that is between him and the safety of his home.

He stands there for what seems like an eternity and than he sees it. A tiny flicker of light ...a spot in the darkness around him. His heart is happy, she remembered. He wants to start walking but he waits just a little bit longer to make sure that little flicker won't go out.

But it don't. She must be anxious, He steps out into the storm, his gloved hand up against his cheek sheltering his eyes from the beating snow, but his eyes never leave that little flicker of hope, the old lantern in the window. One step at a time, through the drifts and howling snow, her light in the window is leading him back to home...back to her, back to safety.

Sometimes life can get really rough for us. It can become like a raging storm. You may think you are lost, you don't know where to turn, which way to go. You allow worries to take control. Those negative "what if's" start to fill your mind. You see other people hurting and you can't do anything to help them.

I will admit, sometimes I get just like that. Sometimes I don't know where to turn, or where to go. My heart is hurting. My arms want to reach out but they have no strength. My wings want to fly but they have no wind.

But if I just stand there for a bit, just outside that old "barn door." If I look out into the storm...I will see it. He has always held it there. Strong, steady, and true. My husband has lite the lantern and placed it in the window.

What if you reach out but your arms remain empty. They remain empty because your best friend is not there? A dear woman that I know experienced this very thing not long ago. Some said that God can give her the love that she needs to help her through this difficult time. I didn't understand so I asked the question: "How can God put human arms around her? How can God whisper in her ear those words of love?  The person that I asked gave a very good answer I think. She said "God shows His unending love to us through others. He provides friends who can hold us...friends who can whisper words of comfort into our sad ear. Or maybe sometimes you set quiet alone and God Himself whispers softly into you ear and this lights the old kerosene lantern in the window giving you wind beneath your wings so you can fly again.