In the Stillness

 

 

 

Winter and I weren’t always friends. There was a time when I literally abhorred the season of cold and snow, and it wasn’t because of the weather conditions.  When my boys were little the winter months brought onslaughts of viral attacks and bacterial infections. It seemed no matter what I did my children spent the entire winter sick and often as not, I along with them.  The moment we set foot outside our snug little home one of them would inevitably be an unwitting host of some sort of illness .  In our small 900 square foot house there was no escaping the dreaded colds and flus.  I literally felt plagued.

This winter even though at this very moment we are battling illness, God is moving.   Teaching me to rest in Him, to be still.  The snowflakes that we have been blessed with every couple of days fairly shout of this wondrous peace.  I wonder are they just for me?!  As they float silently through the air they seem to shroud out the noises of our rural neighborhood.  Passing vehicles are muffled, the neighboring dogs are hunkered down out of the weather, no barking at stray cats is heard, rabbits and deer pad through my yard evenly more silently than before, even the birds at my feeder seem to feel the reverence of the moment and cease their chatter, there is a calming hush that descends all around. 

It is in these moments, of this winter season, that I am enveloped with a deep knowing of what it means to be still, to know God, to know that He, my Creator, is speaking right to my heart. 

In the stillness I am wrapped up in Him, surrounded by His goodness, knowing that in all things He is all I’ll ever need.

 

“Be still and know that I am God! I will be honored in every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”   Psalm 46:10

Home (in Black and White)

It’s warming up here.  The arctic blast has moved on.

Today we are enshrouded in a thick fog.   Closed in.   Yet, so peaceful.

Sadly it sounds like we are going to lose our snow to rain.  I love the snow.  I love Michigan for it’s beautiful winters.  I know many people would think I’m crazy for this statement.  But for me, when it snows I feel God’s peace.  It is a huge reminder to me of His cleansing, His beauty, His magnificence!

This week I enjoyed the snow mostly from indoors, except for two times when I ventured out, because I couldn’t help myself (I needed to capture the beauty).  I think my family thought I was nuts, because I kept opening the windows (when they weren’t frozen shut) and snapping away with my camera.

We are pretty cozied up here.  Our week consisted of doing school, digging out, playing on the huge snow pile Joel created when he plowed our driveway, eating hot, winter, comfort food, and just being together with no place to go (well, at least the kids and I had no place to go).  Here’s just a little peek in photo’s of our week…..

 

 

 

 

Linked up with Melissa:

Baby It’s Cold Outside….

 

It’s –16 degrees here right now and with the wind chill it feels like –38.  As I type this Joel is trying to plow us out.  We have 12+ inches of snow on top of the 6-8 inches we already had.  The wind is whipping across the fields and our dirt road is drifted shut.  There are literally snow waves in this years soybean field.  If it wasn’t so cold and if the snow wasn’t so deep in places I would be out in that field taking pictures!  Alas, I don’t feel like bucking snow drifts with my thighs.  Thankfully I was able to get outside yesterday and take some photos before it got bitterly cold.