Winter

We are as soil and if we can allow The Lord's grace to fertilize the soil ....  

Ann Voskamp talks about when you have an empty place, a crack in dry soil, for example, something is going to fill that crack ... may it be The Lord ...

This writing is about how we can affect that which fills us when we are thirsty and dry.

~~~

In the winter there is a decrease in - 
Vitamin D
Sun on skin
Physical exercise 
 - I must stay alert to where my thoughts take my feelings.  

Then what is it about the other three seasons; Spring, Summer and Fall that usher in healthy thinking.  
Maybe it's -
New life in the Spring
Warmth and water fun in the summer
or 
Changing color that cools skin 
 - bringing healthy thoughts.


Winter brings illness, cabin fever and amplified 'aloneness' to so many.  

January follows the family gatherings and we begin a new year.

On the other hand -- Snow-covered ground is a peaceful sight as it seems to quiet nature, as a blanket quiets a child.  

Take captive your thoughts! 

~~~

Our horses are moved to our other farm 'to winter there'.

And it's change, once again dealing with the empty.

I have a dear friend who was sharing with me how difficult it is for her to just rest ... as in, do nothing.  I am wondering if that is what Ann is talking about ... the filling.

I also wonder about what is meant by Sabbath.  Priscilla Shirer has written a Bible Study called Breathe, making room for sabbath and she is asking in the beginning if we know we are 'a captive'...'a slave'.  

Harriet Tubman, the great emancipator of thousands of slaves in America, is quoted as saying "I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more, if they had known they were slaves."

Priscilla continues saying "God always and eternally intended the Sabbath to be a lifestyle--an attitude, a perspective, an orientation for living that enables us to govern our lives and steer clear of bondage."

~~~

Questions to ask;
Am I a slave to busy?
With what am I filling my 'dryness' of winter and winters to come?
Will I accept change and give thanks for what IS or will I 'fill the empty' with old thinking/feeling?