Thoughts on Winter

I read an article recently about a generation overlap that includes my children.

The author introduced a new name for these young adults as they grew up during two completely different ways of life.  The analog days and the digital days of Millennials and Generation X.  

Those born between 1977 and 1983 are  familiar with them both since they lived in both.

I thought about them when I started writing this morning.  My children not only grew up in different technical times, but also on different continents.  Their early childhood spent in England, and then coming back home to the South, and Florida for the next period of their growing up years.

Florida.  Sunshine State.  Even in winter.

England... 

where the gray skies are reflected in the gray uniforms of the palace guards in winter.

The place that prompted CS Lewis to pen,
"Narnia was always winter...".

Winter in England was a shock for us at first. 

But we learned to cope.

For instance, the minute you come in from the cold, the most important thing to do is find the source of heat and stand as close to it as you can!  

Actually, the MOST important thing may be to put the kettle on.  

Then while you wait for it to heat up, stand somewhere very warm.  

Our house there had a radiator heating system and there were these ugly pipes that ran up and down the walls to deliver the hot water from the boiler to the radiators.  Big white metal things that took up part of a wall in each room in the house.

They were so ugly to me when we moved in...

in June.

But within a few months we all agreed,

the radiator was our favorite place to hang out in the winter! 

We learned to tape up windows with big sheets of thick plastic.  

It still bulged no matter how tight we sealed it, 

so we always dressed inside in much the same way we dress for outside in Florida.

Boots, socks, sweaters, thermal undies and lots of thick comfy blankets!

With some knowledge and experience under our belts we finally got to the point where we did not dread the approach of winter because we had learned how to deal with the cold.

But how do you deal with the gray? 

I really missed seeing the sun. 

But Winter in England gave us much to enjoy as well.

Gentle snow fall created a magical place and always brought a sense of awe to  it watch it happen.

Building a perfect snowman. 

Christmas in England!

Chestnuts roasting on open fires.  

Mince pies and other unique holiday sweets.  

But most memorable, the joy of cozying up to a warm radiator or snuggling up with a warm cup of hot tea with socks on and under a warm comfy blanket....

I remember taking a picture of my favorite landmarks in London,
 Big Ben.

Because it was during winter, there were no leaves on the branches that would have blocked this particular view, and I was able to take the picture that became my favorite.

It helped me remember to look for all of the good things that you will miss when winter comes to a close, and to enjoy them while you have them.

Because winter does come to an end.  

 Just about the point that you think you cannot handle another day of winter, there it would be.

A green shoot poking up through days old crunchy hard snow.  Spring was on its way.

And I would fall in love with England all over again.

Spurgeon wrote, 

"while it's easy to think of all that is missed when the winter comes, it (winter) is still a gift".   

Psalm 74:17 says "Thou has made summer and winter".  

There is that. 

Sometimes God gives his gifts to us wrapped in the chill of winter.  

They are still gifts.

Spurgeon  also described another winter.  

"Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it is on you just now, it will be very painful to you. But there is this comfort; namely, the Lord makes it."

Five years ago, we entered into a similar winter.  It started with a phone call.

"Debbie, I've had an accident"

It could have ended differently.

But in the early hours just past midnight, we left the trauma ward and I was able to bring my sweetheart home.

To sleep in his own house. 

I do not ever plan to take that for granted.  We know too many who did not have that.

And I do not hesitate to call what happened to him that night a miracle. 

Everyone who talked to me at the hospital emphasized what an impact his body had taken, colliding on the interstate with an immovable object like he did. His vehicle was destroyed and yet with a broken arm and clavicle,  he undid his own seatbelt and walked away.

The next day while we went over everything and wondered  how we would cope with our new situation, it dawned on me that somehow he still had all of his limbs, and I think that was when I became aware of how God really wrapped me up close to Him 

and gave me His peace. 

So many "what if" questions came to mind, 

and it soon became obvious that if God had wanted to, 

He could have prevented the whole thing, so this had to be from Him.  

But He also could have allowed things to happen that would have made it much worse, so His care for us IN this was very real.

Going through all of that together, we became more and more aware of how each circumstance that night fit together and were reminded that God is always at work in our lives.

But these were still hard days.

We made it through each day by leaning on God, on family and friends.

And we leaned hard!  

We are both so thankful for each encouragement that came our way, and for the care that was shown to us during this time.

Because I had kept a gratitude journal, 

making a point to look for God's involvement in our lives was a habit by that time. 

This habit became not just something that I enjoyed, but something necessary to keep our eyes on Him when it would have been easy to focus on our circumstances.

My gratitude journals were kind of like that big comfy chair and fluffy blanket.  

The other thing we leaned on was His promises.  

We depended on Him at that time like we didn't need to before.  

And His Word became dearer than we ever thought it could.  

We drew near to Him.  He drew near to us.  

That relationship I would not trade anything for!

One of my sisters shared a sticker in a message recently of Sully, from Monsters, Inc. 

wrapping Boo up in a big monster hug.  

We felt that during these days. 

Completely cared for and loved and protected.

Even in a hard winter.

And now?  

He has made summer again. 

And while winter is always just on the horizon, 

we can rejoice that God does not give us winter without including the comforts only He can give. There is joy knowing that we do not have to live like it is

 "always winter, but never Christmas".