Before Winter starts I imagine the snuggling under blankets, the gathering in near the fire, the slow and homely pace.

and then Winter sets in

and there are still school runs to do, and kindy runs, and waiting in the bone chilling wind…. and it goes on and on and all of me starts to fantasise about Spring.

We ache (sometimes literally to the bone) for the Spring to come, for lightness in the skies, for the heads of daffodils to herald the way.

We long to be rid of the Winter. To throw it off and shake our fist at it – you tried to break my will but you didn’t succeed.

…. and I think this is how we feel about life seasons of Winter too….

when the leaves drop and we are defenceless and vulnerable,

exposed and found lacking,

the shallowness of our roots becomes obvious as the surface of the ground ices up and begins to crack,

and we long for the easiness of Spring, how impressive our blossom, how hopeful and filled with potential and promise we look.

Currently I feel challenged not to try and race so quickly through the winter – there are good things to be learnt in the winter season.

humility – when you are full of bloom and potential humbleness is harder to learn. When you have nothing to cover your inadequacies, when you feel out of your depth, when you feel alone, this is when humility comes more easily. And I know humility will serve me well in the Spring and Summer and especially in the losses of Autumn.

interdependency – when the winter wind howls and lashes I learn the importance of having other trees close by, of having my roots tangled in the roots of others so we lean into each others strengths. I learn the value of the strong, compassionate, clever, thoughtful people around me in a way I forget to acknowledge in easy seasons.

faith – when all around is storm and there is no one to hang on to, the roots snap off or they go deep. In the calm of Spring and the gentle rain who’s to know if there are deep roots that cling to the side of a slippery cliff, in winter faith is what holds me there.

hope – when all is easy what need for Hope? In winter I throw myself into the arms of Hope because Hope will sustain when there is nothing but empty, nothing but cold and the sound of questions being whipped into the wind.

and when you find yourself in Winter may you come out the other side deeper, stronger, humbler, more connected, with Faith and Hope that are based on knowing He is there xxx