Love Notes from Winter
Small moments to remember
The official start date of spring was March 20th. Here in Colorado, spring and winter tend to spend a few weeks romantically intertwined. For example, the second soccer practice of the season resulted in 15 young women wrapped in blankets, huddled beneath the park shelter. These girls swapped stories of wild weather while the biting winter wind blew swirling gusts of sleet and rain around them. 15 minutes post-storytelling, the wind was gone and play resumed.
This winter, my spiritual discipline focus was prayer, a beautiful discipline to study and practice during the cold and dark months of the year. As quarter four of my transforming community commences, I dive into the spiritual discipline of scripture. Already I’m feeling challenged to live out my faith in new and difficult ways while at the same time being nurtured and loved by a God who sees, hears and loves so well. Today, I want to share a few love notes from winter. Vignettes and delights that are helping me keep my head above the rising waters of fear that pour from news headlines. Psalm 103 says that “the Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.” Writing beautiful moments for remembering is one way I feel invited to join God in that work. Please add your delights and beautiful moments to the comments section of this post OR feel free to email me with your stories. May light continue to shine into places where the dark longs to linger.
Treasure Hunt My muscles clenched tight against the biting air. I pondered “Redeemed” with each brisk step - one step closer to closing the lake’s perimeter. The whistle of my wind-breaking pants - the only sound in Winter’s wild. I wondered about scavenger hunting through my Bible, a desire to dig out meaning, but shook that wondering aside as I remembered the guidance to refrain from such striving. But then… from the periphery of my thoughts… a flurry of snow. I paused. I watched. Her furry tail flipped and flopped as she flung white crystals and dampened leaves like a miniature excavator. X marks the spot. Her tiny head popped up. The forest floor confetti production halted and she bounded onto the nearby tree trunk. In her mouth - her treasure! Hunted and found. A new sound, - laughter broke through brittle air - only you God would place me at the exact location where the map marked x played out - the sole witness to this treasure queen’s victory. A soul-whisper, “she knew where to look.” She knew. Reminders from the word, “Join God in the work God is already doing - inside of you.” Already doing. A friend’s words - “You do know. Own it.” Own it. An invitation: Find the story and in it the treasure. You KNOW where it’s hidden. You KNOW. Dig this treasure out with abandon. Hold it high in victory. Let it sustain you through the winter and when the time comes, step boldly into the Spring.
Winter Treasures in Photo Essay Form
