Winter Life

This is our front walk in the process of being shoveled

This is our front walk when the shoveling was done!

As a native Southern Californian, this whole winter thing is still very new and strange even though it is our second winter in Chicago.  The sun-loving beach bum in me wants to revolt against staying indoors for the majority of 5 months of the year, not to mention all the snow shoveling and car cleaning that must take place.  However, in experiencing real seasons and real winter for the first time, I think there is a kind of natural rhythm that God has built into life by the seasons.  Winter is a time when God slows life down and we have more time to think and reflect.  If such seasons are used well, they can be profitable times of introspection, ministering the Gospel to my soul and greater reflection on the greatness of our God!  This runs totally contrary to how I'm wired as a white, Western, Southern-Californian male.  If it weren't for times like this, I might never stop for extended periods of time to slow down the pace of life.  So, while I'm still not a huge fan of dealing with winter in the frozen North, I'm learning to appreciate its beauty and God's grace through giving us each season of the year.