I confess I do not love winter. I have been known to hibernate through certain months and not leave the house for days at a time. Yes, it is pathetic and true. But lately, and maybe it is from breathing in too much Minnesota air- I have been struck by the beauty of this season. One sight in particular this week captured my mind and it has not soon been forgotten:
I was headed out to Chaska to catch up on some work at my job. It was a relatively warm day for January in Minnesota and the roads were not slippery, wet or slushy so my eyes were free to take in the scenery around me. There are several trees that line the way from Bloomington to Chaska and that day I saw them as I have never seen them before. Winter trees are interesting to me. They are all naked and exposed-their dark trunks a stark contrast to the white snow. There are even these trees over by the girls school that are painfully crooked. They seem life like to me--old people trees with arthritis or something. Anyway, the other day the trees on the way to Chaska had their usual dark trunks but the branches were a pure white. They looked as if they were encapsulated by crystal and it was breathtaking. Against the beautiful blue sky that day it was all I could do not to stare. I had never seen the trees like that and I told myself I would bring a camera the next time I drove that way to take a picture. Then, for some odd reason I watched the local news that night. I never watch the news. But I learned from my local meteorologist, Belinda Jensen, that we had experienced a winter inversion that day. She even had a picture of my trees on the screen that one of the viewers had taken. I looked for the picture they had on the newscast, but I couldn't find it, so here is a link to one I found online....it is obviously not in Minnesota, but you get the idea--GORGEOUS!

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/tree-during-winter-inversion-david-sidwell.html

So this sight got me thinking. In many ways our souls can have seasons of winter-a little colder and darker than some of the other seasons of life. Some days it may make us want to hibernate. But to hibernate completely would be to miss the beauty in this season. Even in the barrenness of winter, God is at work creating beautiful masterpieces our eyes have never seen before. And when we see them we should share them. Because something is always more beautiful when you can share it with a friend.

I still do not love winter. But so much of our perspective and attitude hinges on what we choose to see. I am choosing to see beauty in winter. And I am choosing to see God in winter and He is more beautiful than anything my eyes could ever imagine.