This Winter has been... well... hiding. It seems to snow and stick just once a month - as if trying to remind us it truly is Winter without actually having to do its job.

I sort of miss the snow. Clinging delicately to leaves and doors.

We haven't even had the adventure of getting snowed in! Or even close to approached such a condition. 

It's been cold, but rarely below 30, and almost never below 20. I'm lovin' the warmer weather, but I sort of feel like I won't appreciate Spring nearly as much this year. Things won't really change much.

There's already no snow. 

Our few light snows have melted into puddles that fill our driveway and lawn.

Just like without sorrows we wouldn't appreciate the joys nearly as much. Without snow, I don't believe we will appreciate Spring so much. (although I can't wait to see some flowers blooming to brighten the landscape! )

I often ask myself why there has to be pain in this world. Why we get sick, hurt (inside and out), betrayed.

Part of the answer seems to be, without it we wouldn't know joy, peace, health (or realize what it is anyway), loyalty... and the list goes on. The hard truth is, without these troubles, I just wouldn't enjoy life as much. And I certainly wouldn't look for someone to walk through that life with me and be strong for me. Namely, our Lord Jesus. So in the end, I'm grateful. Because I just can't imagine not knowing Jesus and the in-explainable peace and closeness He brings.

Winter is serene and breathtakingly beautiful.

Cold is invigorating.

Spring is new and radiant.

That Springtime moisture in the air is refreshing.

Summer is glowing.

Warmth is healing and ensconcing.

Fall is glorious in its burst of color.

Crispness in the air is rejuvenating.

I must remember, just as all seasons are good in their own way, so all seasons in life are too. (even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment)

And I must also remember that Winter will not last forever. Spring is always coming. And so is Summer.  

This happens to be one of the moments that feels like Spring. And I'm going to cherish it all I can.

~ Ashley L.

Last night, the wind went crazy... it's still going crazy.

Jogging to the mail box (we have a loooong driveway) I suddenly found myself barely able to even walk forward as the wind gusted at me. It was kinda cool! Reminded me of when I was a kid and loved holding an open umbrella to the wind and letting it pull me along.

When we got up this morning, we found this on our back deck... we have no idea where it came from! I'm just glad it wasn't bigger!

... or could it have been a hint from the neighbors... we should paint our house?

.....Today in our devotions we learned about keeping our eyes on the Lord. It really spoke to me. "Look unto me, and be saved."

"Many of us have a mental conception of what a Christian should be, and the lives of the saints beocme a hidnrance to your concnetration on God. There is no salvation in this way, it is not simple enough. "Look unto Me, and be saved."

The very thing we look for, we shall find if we will concentrate on Him. We get preoccupied and sulky with God, while all the time He is saying, "Look up and be saved."

The difficulties and trials-- the casting about in our minds as to what we shall do this summer, or tomorrow, all vanish when we look to God.

Rouse yourself up and look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter if there are a hundered and one things that press, resolutely exclude them all and look to Him. "Look unto Me" and salvation is, the moment you look." ~ Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest

~ Ashley L.

We had our first bona fide snow of this winter! That's crazy for us. And good for us! It meant Ethan and I got 45 minutes of cardio shoveling the driveway!

I'm hoping to take some pictures soon, and since the forecast calls for snow almost every day next week, I'm not worried about missing the snow. 

The devotion we read today really spoke to me:

--------

By Oswald Chambers in "My Utmost for His Highest"

"'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.' Isaiah 6:8

God did not address the call to Isaiah; Isaiah overheard God saying, 'Who will go for us?' The call of God is not for the special few, it is for everyone. Whether or not I hear God's call depends upon the state of my ears; and what I hear depends upon my disposition.

'Many are called, but few are chosen,' that is, few prove themselves the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ whereby their disposition has been altered and their ears unstopped, and they hear the still small voice questioning all the time, 'Who will go for us?'

It is not a question of God singling out a man and saying, 'Now you go.' God did not lay a strong compulsion on Isaiah; Isaiah was in the presence of God and he overheard the call, and realized that there was nothing else for him but to say, in conscious freedom, 'Here am I, send me.'

Get out of your mind the idea of expecting God to come with compulsions and pleadings.

When our Lord called His disciples there was no irresistible compulsion from outside. The quiet passionate insistence of His 'Follow Me' was spoken to men with every power wide awake. If we let the Spirit of God bring us face to face with God, we too shall hear something akin to what Isaiah heard, the still small voice of God; and in perfect freedom will say, 'Here am I; send me.'"

------------

Am I close to Him? Am I listening? Am I willing? He sends out a call... who will answer?

'Nough said.

Happy Winter everyone!

~ Ashley L.