Montana winters are long. We feel it most acutely after the tease of a January thaw, followed by the deep freeze of February. It’s not the same as the joyful anticipation of the holiday season, but rather a desperate questioning of “When?” When will warmth finally return to release the wildflowers, the grip of snow on our playfields, the water in our rivers?

For a huge portion of the world, this is also a season of Lent, also a time of waiting and reflection. Other traditions and religions have similar periods of abstinence and contemplation. It seems to be a necessary part of our spiritual existence.

In Spring in Promise Cove, Maggie has gone through a long period of waiting. As much as we love our children, I think we all have those moments of wondering, when? When will they be strong enough to be on their own? When can we have our lives back?

As a single mother, Maggie has given everything to raising her daughter, as well as filling in as general store manager after her father died. She’s been waiting a very long time. So has the man who has loved her from their first days in elementary school, when he used to share his Hostess cupcakes with her.

Spring seems to be the perfect time to fall in love. There is the anticipation of something amazing about to happen. In Montana, when it finally bursts forth, it does so in a glory of all different shades of green, bright blue skies, and carpets of wildflowers.

Waiting can seem long, especially when snow pummels strange places like LA, and more feet of the stuff is dumped on the already saturated Midwest. But even as we turn within and reflect, we know that it will return with all its colors blazing.