Monday, January 09, 2006

It Is Winter - Or, Is It?

I love winter, although I’m a very cold-natured person. But, I want COLD, when you say winter. I hate to wear a coat one day, with the wind blowing through you, like you were wearing a piece of screen wire, only to have to wear a sweater, or a short sleeve the next day. Folks, that’s not a season of winter to me; it is the weather playing tricks on us!

We had some cold weather back in the Fall. Christmas comes along, and it’s not even cold enough to wear the new coat my husband got me for Christmas. In fact, I made the comment to him the other day that I probably would have to wait until next winter to even put it on. Even shopping for Christmas gifts, I would wear a light shirt and sweater, or light-weight jacket, only to almost burn up in the malls. It was as if they thought it was 20 degrees outside, when it was probably in the 50’s or higher. And, the weather hasn’t been to different since Christmas. In fact, today, it was in the low 70’s, much too high for this second week of January.

Are we promised any change in the outlook for this season? Who knows! I had thought, with such a hot summer, we would at least have some very cold weeks in the winter. But, it had better hurry up! We had more cold weeks in November, going to the football games than we have had since then. Why not push the Winter months back a little? After all, the plants do not realize it’s winter, and not Spring. I’ve seen trees and plants sprouting leaves. And, when a cold snap does come, those plants and trees will be killed, or, at least stunned in their growth for the Spring.

I can remember when the seasons were true to their name. In other words, Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall had their three distinctive months. And, you could know what clothes to wear during those seasons. Now, you never have to put up your winter clothes OR your summer ones. In the winter, you may have summer temperatures during the day, and winter temperatures during the night. In the summer, you may have hot days, but very cool, unseasonable nights. But, I suppose God knows what He is doing; so I will not question Him.

The one thing we need to keep in mind is the fact that He controls the universe, which includes the seasons. And, in one of those seasons, He will send His Son back to catch away the Church. Be ready – keep your ‘fires’ burning, your ‘lamps’ lit – and wear whatever clothing you need to keep warm or cool – not that you will need it, when He splits the Eastern sky!

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12 Comments:

Kim Anderson said...

Living in the southwest, we more often than not have golden 60's on winter days than snow and cold. It's not the winter of nostalgic poetry. But at least here it is truly frosty at night.

I may not need my winter coat when our Lord splits the skies, but I'm looking forward to the rhythms and weather of Heaven, which I doubt not will delight us more certainly than our longed-for postcard winters do here.

Barbara said...

Oh, don't you know the weather in Heaven is going to be wonderful, and we will never complain.

see-through faith said...

great final paragraph

Patricia said...

Hi Barbara! I know of what you speak! We never put our summer clothes away, though we do put our sweaters and coats (if we have any) away in the summer. Blessings ~ Patricia

Carol said...

i've never thought about heaven having weather...

Imagine being able to love and enjoy any type of weather without fear of discomfort or harm. - Hurricaines, blizzards, tornados...What would it be like to be able to frolic in these extremes?

Or maybe heaven has only perfectly mild days reflective of Him?

Full Contact, Savior-centric Livin said...

Cold, snowy winters are the stuff of my childhood in South Dakota. I've spent winters since in Texas, Maryland, Florida, Puerto Rico, and now California. But God has opened my eyes to appreciate these winters like he's opened my eyes to appreciate believers in these places--all with very different convictions, yet all worthy of His love.

Carmen
www.mywordwrites.blogspot.com

Barbara said...

Thanks, see-through-faith. When we keep God in our plans, all things work out for our good.

Barbara said...

Carol,

Heaven has to be wonderful, nothing wrong - no bad weather - beautiful skies, shining with HIS light. Maybe those in Alaska are a little closer than God than us - having so many days filled with only light? :)

Barbara said...

Carmen,

I know what you mean.We could be worse off than having bad, hard winters. I just wish we could have a real winter, not just jumping from cold to warm, back to cold again. I would like to see SNOW - haven't really seen much of that since March 1993, when we had a snow storm that stopped AL or, most of us, in our tracks.

My husband had been transferred to Nashville the year before. We never gave up our home, but came back and forth, at times.I was leaving the apartment that Friday, on my way home to my granddaughter's 3rd birthday party the next day, and my daughter telling me not to come - it was going to snow. SURE! Well, it started on me in TN, and got worse, the closer I got home. Then,1 mile before I left the Interstate (8 miles from home), the snow stopped and I never saw anymore. Then, 1 hour later, a knock on my door - and my b/i/law was there to tell me it was snowing (ALL was WHITE), and we might lose power. We did here for only 22 hrs, but others in our community were without it for 6 days, while we sat under about 18" of snow! I couldn't get out, but thank the Lord I had plenty to eat, and I was by myself all that time. But, the snow was beautiful

Barbara said...

Patricia,being a cold-natured person, I never put away my sweaters or sweats. I can't stand a hot house, and you might find me in sweats winter and summer! We used to have winters where we had to wear a big coat and gloves, but that's been many years. I never buy a big, heavy coat anymore.

I do remember the winter in Indiana, though, when my husband was there in the Air Force. While it would be very warm on Memorial Day here, it was COLD, and I do mean COLD in Indiana on that day. It was fur lined boots weather for me!

Anonymous said...

I miss the prettiness of snow, but I appreciate my furnace not kicking on!

;-)

Barbara said...

I hear that,Ellen! Yesterday, we had warm weather, but today, it's been sort of cold again, so we have the gas logs on in the den. My house is total electric, but we use the logs for a fast warm feeling.