Photo by the Amazing Bill Fortney
Here in the Mitten State we are running out of places to put the snow. The winter winds and cold have finally stripped the flowering pear out front of her leaves. And it has been cold, cold, cold—bitter cold in the daytime and brutal cold at night.
Saturday evening Lois asked me to run an errand. I was not excited about it. It was cold outside and warm inside by the fire. It was six in the evening. I braced myself for the cold. Snow was falling, but it was a gentle white mist of snow that gave a beautiful luster to everything it touched. I recorded a note to myself: “My intense love of nature is being tested by this relentless winter but it’s six in the evening now and it’s not fully dark yet. The lingering dusk and a white mist of snow in the air are softening my heart to her again.”
Snow is God’s way of slowing the pace of life and filling the world with frozen beauty. Pining for spring will slow it’s arrival. Don’t yield to that dark temptation. Slow down and delight in the snow like a child. If you curse it, it will not go away. You might as well have a snowball fight or make a snowman. Light a fire, make some cocoa. Bundle up and walk the dog. Get out an old-fashioned print book and read. It’s winter folks. Take advantage of it. It’s God’s weather. He has a plan for it. I have a saying; “Long Michigan winters make the cherries of springtime sweeter.”
The Apostle Paul endured great hardships on the mission of Jesus in the early days of the church. When winter seems hard I like to remember his words; “Do all things without complaining… that you may be blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life…” (Philippians 2:15-17a NKJV)
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
February 10, 2014