Coming Alive in Winter

You probably fit in one of two categories:  A Winter lover or a winter hater.

Well unless you live in the sunny state of Florida or California then I guess it does not really matter much.

I am going to say I am a Tennessee girl so winter means something totally different to me than a Minnesota winter girl.  (Right Deb Brown?)

I do love things about winter like snuggling my steaming hot cup of coffee and snuggling under a blanket with a good book.

However, there are times in the midst of the winter when it feels like the cold and grey can be streeeetttttching out that I long for winter thaw.

I think there are seasons of life that feel like that.  Winter seasons where things seem a little colder and darker than usual.  When you wonder if the season will turn to sun again.

It can be hard in the middle of a winter season of circumstance to hope for spring.  Maybe it feels painful to hope, impossible even.

In the cold winter there is nothing more comforting then to sit by a warm fire.  There is something sothing about letting the flames of heat thaw you from your head to your toes.

Hebrews 12:29 describes our God as a consuming fire.  We can come into the presence of God with our hearts seemingly frozen in the darkness of winter and let Him slowly thaw our hearts with his presence from our head to our toes.

Ask Him to come into your winter.

— 31 Days to Coming Alive

This weekend I had the pleasure of experiencing winter through new eyes.

I work with a ministry in Haiti called Harvest Field Ministries.  The leader of this ministry Hyppolite is one of the most joy-filled servant hearted person I know.

He was visiting America for the first time from Haiti.  Imagine the difference.  In case you are not aware– Haiti is HOT.

Yesterday some of the former Haiti team members and I hopped in the church van with Hyppolite to the nearby mountains and I watched His eyes and heart dance looking at snow.

He wanted all the pictures by the snow-covered trees.  It was magical to watch.

Granted it was cold.  And I was not prepared as I did not know we were going to the mountains so I had to borrow a jacket and pretend that my cute boots from JCPenny’s were actually for cold weather.

Isn’t that true of life.  Sometimes the seasons we are in catch us by surprise.  We are not quite prepared.

But what if we look at those seasons through new eyes?

I was reminded there was such beauty in the cold of winter.

Are you in a winter life season?  I love that we can run to God with the questions.

The when is this season ever going to end questions.

But I love that we can also find and see God in these winter seasons.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Though the fig tree should not blossom or the fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fiels yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no heard in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.  God, the Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer; he makes me tread on my high places.

I am praying for you if you are in a winter season.

What is your favorite thing about the winter? I love hearing from you.  Leave a comment below.

Ps:  Looking for a devotional this winter? Would love to invite you to check out 31 days to Coming Alive.