What's Good About Winter?

    Winter: it’s long, cold and dark. I know, we are still in the fun part with Christmas lights and all, but January is around the corner. The temptation is to just endure the season and long for April and May (though we had snow last April!).
    But it doesn’t have to be that way. Thinking back, some of my most memorable times in life took place during the winter. Linda and I were engaged in the winter. I built our first house in the winter. Our youngest child was born in the winter. I first came into contact with the search committee of The Bridge (then Des Plaines Bible Church) in the winter.
    Wouldn’t it be better to make the best of the season? Well, how?
    A journalist recently hit the streets and asked people what they enjoyed most about the season. Here are some of the answers:
    “Football playoffs and bowl games.”
    “Reading by the fireplace on our living room couch.”
    “Skiiing!”
    “Shoveling snow.” (You might think that was a joke, but he was serious!)
    “Putting on warm clothes.”
    “Hot cocoa or apple cider.”
    “Ice fishing.”
    “I love the excitement of a blizzard or snow storm.”
    “Going to the beach in South Florida.” (My favorite)
    “Snow days off school!”
    “Crisp, clean, fresh air and crunchy snow.”
    “Museums––we never go when it’s warm out.”
    “I don’t.” (HA!–he wouldn’t budge from his answer.)
    If you thought about it long enough, you could come up with your own list. There are a lot of good things about winter, including many of the above for me. It’s all part of God’s beautiful plan for the change of seasons. The air is cleansed, the soil is reconditioned, and life is reset to get ready for the coming spring. So rather than enduring the season, make the best of it. Here are some suggestions:
    1) Set some goals for this winter and build a task list of projects you want to get accomplished before the weather turns warm again.
    2) Plan right now (and put on your calendar) some fun things to do that you wouldn’t normally enjoy in the summer. It might be driving to Wisconsin to do a little skiing, or maybe even to take snowboarding lessons (one of our fondest family memories when we did this together). How long has it been since you went to the Chicago museums? Rent skates and give ice skating a shot.
    3) When it snows, get out there in it! Build a snow man or snow fort with the kids, or if you don’t have any, join the neighbor kids! Enjoy a good snow-ball fight with your spouse. If you can't beat the weather, join it! Sure you’ll get a little cold. But that makes coming inside and heating up the tea kettle all the more pleasurable.
    4) Finally, winter can be a great time for rejuvenation. Find a couple of books you’ve been meaning to read and get started on them. Sleep more than you usually do. Try some writing; start a journal. Use the winter to defragment your hard drive, so to speak, and to gear up for coming spring.
    If you do the above things, you might wind up saying that winter is your favorite time of the year!
    Well….let’s not get carried away. ☺