Today I felt the winter blues, in a big way. I looked out my window and only saw shades of gray. Gray and lots of white. Empty gray limbs. Lifeless gray sky. Mean old crow. And a yard full of snow. (Wow…I wasn’t actually trying to rhyme there.) Anyways, it’s not that I don’t like snow, it’s just that I’ve seen an awful lot of it here lately. And I’m starting to forget what the world looks like in shades of green. Northern winters do have a way of making you feel as if they’ll last forever. 

I started thinking that I need to get out of here! I need to go back to that beach and soak up some sun. I actually started to cry a little. And pray…”Lord, please help. I’ve really been missing the spring. But I know there’s people out there that feel this kind of barrenness in their soul. They’ve been waiting a long time to feel alive again. Will You help them?”

I lit a candle. It’s not a lot of warmth, but it is some. And when you’re chasing away the winter blues, sometimes all you need is a little warmth. I don’t have to wait for full sunny days to be warm. (Or travel all those many miles to a beach somewhere.) I can be warm here. In this moment. In this very instant, God is with me. His love warms.

I admired my narcissus. Brent knew that I needed some color so he brought it home for me the other day. A gift. I don’t have to go looking for that one more thing to make me happy. I can thank God for the gifts I have right here. I can be happy here. With all this.

Then I went on a little beauty hunt. One of my favorite bloggers, Ann Voskamp, has taught me much about this. I went looking for God’s art and found it in one the most uncanny places. Right there in my window sill. I’m learning that beauty isn’t always out there, somewhere else. I may have to do a little looking, but I can find it, right here. God meets with me in these simple moments. My ordinary day doesn’t feel so ordinary. The God who can’t be contained in the universe chooses to show me what He’s like in something so small. Sometimes I have to seek Him to find Him.

I planted some seeds the other day. I was needing to see some new life. I’ve been waiting eagerly and expectantly. Every day I tip-toe to look up over my kitchen sink right into this little pot of dirt. Here it is. Can you spot it? That tiny little speck of green? I smiled when I saw it. Sometimes all you need is a tiny speck of hope to get you through a string of gray days.

Can I open my hand to receive whatever portion He gives me today and give Him thanks? He’s been known to take the smallest rations and exponentially increase them. I know, exponentially is a big word for me. If I were a smarty-pants-math-whiz girl, I would tell you it means growing like this: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. Doubling and then doubling and then doubling again. But all that just means that God can take a little and make it a lot. More than enough to feed a hungry soul. And when you have more than enough, you just want to give to others.

This nourishing-Father, love-warming, beauty-lavishing God is helping me today. He’s helping me chase away the winter blues. And if you happen to be the one that feels the bleakness within, the one that just wants to feel alive again, I prayed for you today. May He help you, too.