In doing a personality test several years back, I discovered that my personality type is considered the rarest, making up only about 2% of the population. Evidently, those rare traits carry over into enjoying the winter season (at least in this neck of the woods)! It has taken a long time to understand and embrace who God created me to be. (Understand that when I say embrace who I am, I, by no means, mean to embrace sin…that is not who we are. We were created in God’s image. That’s all I’ll say about that for now.) For a long time, I basically wanted and tried to fit in or live up to what I thought were others’ expectations, sometimes without even realizing it. Trust me, that is exhausting!
What does that have to do with winter, you might ask? First of all, let me just say that I do enjoy all of the seasons with fall being probably the ranking as number one of the four. I enjoy summertime, with swimming and riding with the windows down being top priorities; and who doesn’t like spring? But, winter for me actually rates above spring! (Please, don’t stop reading here!! 🙂 ) I do find that my love for winter seems to fall into about a small of a percentage as my personality.
As I have been writing this article for a few days, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to present it or which way to go with it. I had to just start writing because it was on my heart…I just didn’t have all of the details worked out. Also, (major “ALSO”) I analyzed WHY I like winter so much. I have come to the conclusion that one big reason, I think, is that things tend to slow down…people slow down. In our society, it can be go, go, go, but when a major winter storm rolls in, like the ice storm of 2003, things tend to come to a halt for many. I realize that a storm like that caused grief for the electric company workers, and I am sure others working hard behind the scenes, etc; but for my family, it created some fabulous family memories.
Our electric was off for about 4 or 5 days. We had only been in our home for about six weeks, and some of our furniture hadn’t come yet, so our seating was a little limited. Thankfully, we had a wood burner. My husband wrapped potatoes in tin foil and cooked them in the ashes. My daughter thought they were the best potatoes she’d ever had. We had deer meat in the freezer and gas in the grill… I had never had deer meat that tasted so good. When you stepped out, you could hear the trees cracking in the woods from the weight of the ice that had fallen overnight. We were stayin’ on this ridge if at all possible…my husband even missed a few days of work because of the road conditions. I’m not disputing the fact that we were happy to have our electric back, and that my teenage son was starting to go a little stir crazy toward the end of those candle-lit nights; however, that winter tale is retold over and over again.
I guess, as I expound on those memories, I realize that winter has brought a ton of wonderful memories over the years with family and friends. (So much so that I have started a memoir with some of those memories recorded.)
I love gathering around the table to play games with family, whether after a good sleigh ride while the clothes and mittens are drying by the fire, or simply with some hot chocolate as you watch the snow fall, the rain splash in the puddles, or the bare trees sway in the wind on a cloudy day while the blue birds and cardinals find winter nourishment at the bird feeder.
So, you can see winter is a very happy place for me…those slow, quiet times suit me, whether winter or not. I need them regularly to reflect, create, or have a little talk with Jesus.
One thing that does take away from winter for me just a bit is the amount of complaining that I hear about winter year after year (literally). I don’t want to hit this too heavily, but I would like to shed a little light on complaining. Trust me, I am “preaching” to myself here, too.
I would have to do a little more research to be 100% sure about what I am about to relate to you, but it is my understanding that the children of Israel in Bible times remained in the wilderness far longer than necessary, and that was greatly related to their complaining.
(~See Deuteronomy 1:34-35)
What I do know 100% is what I read in the New Testament scriptures one day when I was probably at a high peek of complaining about a situation…
“Do everything without complaining and arguing,” (Philippians 2:14 NLT)
Talk about an “ouch” that day! We have become so accustomed to stating our opinions that sometimes we don’t even realize that what we are actually doing is complaining…
*Complain – to express dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or grief; find fault
Sometimes, we must confide in someone, but to constantly voice how much we don’t like something over and over, I believe, qualifies as complaining…and I have been there far too many times.
Something that I don’t think we may realize when we complain (which I don’t even think we realize we are doing at times) is how our words affect ourselves and others. In the words of Brennan Manning, “With every encounter, you either give life or you drain it.”
My husband often says that we are spoiled. I say we are blessed; but I agree, that we are so blessed that we often take for granted the ordinary days…the rainy days…the cloudy days. If our lives don’t get any worse than a little rain, a little snow, a few clouds, and some ordinary days, then I’d say we’ve got it pretty good. Perhaps, if we begin to see the beauty in those days—and give thanks for each and every day, we can celebrate the now—and the then.
Winter is such a short season, and I realize that the sun might be hidden a little more in the winter, but that doesn’t mean we can’t experience joy in The Son…let’s open up the window to our heart and let the Son shine through, and be the sunshine for someone’s winter.
“THIS [Emphasis mine] is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalms 118:24 NLT
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So as I conclude this article, I literally received a box in the mail today full of goodies and the card inside read, “…a little box of SUNSHINE…”
That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout.
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*Dictionary.com App
Simply Celebrate With Jackie 