Like a true mid-westerner, born and raised in both blizzards and sweltering heat, I can't imagine living anywhere where it can't be 70 degrees one day and snowing the next.
I live for the drama, but also the symbolism in all the seasons. As i'm sure you're all aware, i love a good life metaphor.
We all know that Fall is my most favorite. It's my oldest, sweetest friend. Fall is for homecomings. But it's winter that concerns me most today.
Winter is magical. Winter is for home. It's for cozy. It's for belonging to a place and people. Winter is for family and traditions and for the world feeling a little bit smaller.
People are kinder in the winter. They hold doors open, and shovel each other's sidewalks and chat about the snow and cold or whatever winter weather is happening. Let's face it, it's never the same and that's kind of why we love it. The holidays help. They center us and calibrate us to what's important.
Winter in quiet. I live life on full volume and in ALL CAPS, and winter provides a lovely opportunity to slow down and quiet down. To listen, to wait, to pay attention.
My best pal is preaching her first sermon on Sunday. I'm so excited. And it's happening in winter. I feel like winter is our season. It was in winter that she first rescued me from a car accdient and let me sleep on her couch. It was a funny set of circumstances that lead to me sleeping on her couch for a whole week, and wearing all her clothes and helping move her mom in the dead of winter in January. It's been winter where she's rescued my heart a billion times. It's where my family ornaments hang on and with theirs. It's where the kitchen feels cozy making Grandma's Pearl's sugar cookies. It's where millions of conversations and Saturdays were spent at the table. It's when we've sold mugs, and made handmade Christmas decorations that made a big church lobby feel like a throwback to Christmas' of a sweeter time. It's where a room full of women were challenged to find their joy and to keep choosing it. It's been in winter when we marched for all of the women that came before us and the women who walk with us.
I may not remember the specifics of what has all happened in our season but I do know how it makes me feel. Winter is significant always. Important things are birthed. foundations are laid. Seeds are planted so that when spring comes, life starts all over.
This is such a sweet time. I'm so thankful.
No comments:
Post a Comment