winter

Christmas day greeted us with a blanket of new snow.  Before the snow ended there were about 10 inches of the white stuff covering everything in sight.  This was the first major snow on Christmas day in Western North Carolina in over 30 years (or so we are told).  After several days of dealing with the snow, ice and the cold wintry air that blew in after the snowstorm, you might wonder why someone would dream of a "White Christmas".  As I checked my email, Twitter, and Facebook and talked to friends and family I heard over and over again a myriad of laments about the snow.  I was reminded of a truth the Apostle Paul discovered in his life.  To be content on matter what the circumstances of his life.

Winter has started off as a very brutal season, here in the mountains.  I don't mean to minimize the problems it presents for many people.  The family struggling with heating needs, the widow who cannot get to the grocery store, individuals stranded at airports or even on highways, folks who are missing much needed hours at work are just a few of the realities of what the winter weather has brought into individual lives.  However, if we are talking about a life of difficulty, I don't think any of us would not acknowledge that Paul's life experiences contained more calamity than ours.  Yet he found a way to not be discouraged or have a complaining spirit amid beatings, jail time, misunderstandings, disputes with friends, and some many of the things that would have surely discouraged any of us.  So how bad are my circumstances, anyway?

The truth is "God is in control" and "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good".  So let's find the beauty in our situations and thank the Lord for His presence and guidance even in the most difficult times.

Winter

New morning light

Shows a layer of white

Hiding the dead

Bringing beauty instead

Fence post and tree limb

Clad in a pale skin

Icy and cold

Outlining each fold

Gray curling smoke

From a fire being stoked

Wind blowing strong

Icicles long

Bed covers pulled tight

Embers glow bright

Steam from a cup

Kids bundled up

Frost laden glimpses

Rousing my senses

Reminders I know

Of wintertime's glow