Winter

"Dad, I heard that we might get six to eight inches tonight!" My oldest daughter was practically ecstatic this afternoon as she shared the weather man's predictions. At eleven years old, snow is still amazing. It is more than weather- it is possibility and anticipation. Even before the first flurries begin to fall, you can see it in her eyes. She can already feel the crunch underneath her boots, taste the flakes in her mouth and imagine the size and shape of the new snowman- or snow-woman, or snow-dog that will be built. I think she even made a snow-squirrel once. (She really does have quite an imagination.) In her mind, school is already cancelled and the toughest question she'll have to answer all day is, "which mug would you like to drink your hot chocolate from?"

I smiled as she shared the news with me. I mean, you almost have to smile at that kind of excitement. But as an adult (who has grown up with it), snow is not all that amazing. Actually, it can really be a drag. I will admit, the first snow of the year is still great. Everything changes and you are happy that the barren landscape has a new look. It's really a treat if it happens in the evening and you can watch it fall outside, while you enjoy the fireplace inside! But soon it's not new anymore. Then the snow represents driveways that will need to be shoveled and cars that will need their windows scraped and interesting commutes to work with lots of people that have seemingly forgotten how to drive overnight. Actually, I think there's more to it than that. As an adult it's not the snow that gets to you; it's what the snow represents- Winter.

Instead of snow men, you anticipate the sting of the icy wind on your face and the relentless gray sky that seems to want to invade the core of who you are. It's not even always about the time of the year. Winter is more than a landscape, or a weather pattern. It is a season of the soul. A time when, regardless of the temperature, you feel a chill deep within yourself. Like a tree that has lost all the grandeur of its leaves, you begin to feel barren and exposed. People who trust Christ are no more immune than anyone else, (although we sometimes have a harder time admitting it).

Tough times can bring the cold.

Sometimes it comes quickly with a call or a message.
"You've missed three payments in a row and we must advise you that..."
"Please see me in my office at the end to the day."
"I just don't love you anymore."
"It's malignant..."
Sometimes it's a hundred things that would seem small if they were by themselves. But stacked together, they carry the weight of a truck. Regardless of the circumstances, Winter has come and you must endure it.

Without a doubt, Winter is hard and I would never pretend that it isn't. Now please hang in there, because what I'm about to say may at first appear to be either cliche' or overly simplistic. When I really stop and think about these darker, lonely seasons though, and what is required to emerge on the other side, I have to go back to my daughter and her comments about the snow. I suppose the real insight comes less from her comments and more from what fuels them in the first place.

Matthew 18: 1-4 says, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"

The verses before and after this story are teachings about walking in faith and avoiding sin, and the child is an example of innocence and purity. As adults, I think we typically view children from the perspective of what we can teach them, and typically this is correct. But in this case, Jesus told his disciples to look at a child as the example. The greatest in the kingdom of heaven will be the one who seeks to live a life of faith and humility and sets an example of innocence and purity.

I can learn a lot from my daughter's perspective on the snow. What I have "grown" to see as an obstacle, she sees as an opportunity. One of the most important elements of riding out a Winter of the soul is faith. Not the "adult" version of faith that has learned to spout holy-sounding phrases on cue and then proceed to rely on itself anyway. I'm talking about the cold-braving, snowman-making faith of a child that could honestly say "I don't understand this, but maybe with Your help we can make something." The kind of faith that would even admit "I don't like this, but I trust that You wont let me get so cold that I won't ever thaw out again."

If you're still exploring who God is and Winter is blowing, I hope you will dig deep into this. If you'll take a chance and read the stories about Jesus in any of the gospel books in the New Testament like Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, I think you'll see that Jesus shows Himself to be someone that you can trust; someone who can restore the innocence and purity of a child in you.

If you already know Him and you're feeling barren, remember His promise to never leave you or forsake you, because He means it. Don't be afraid to tell him how you really feel- He can take it. Ask Him to renew that child-like faith in you again- trust me, He can do it.

And then decide which mug you are going to drink your hot chocolate from.

In Him We Live,

Jeff