Meaningful Monday: The Dead of Winter

Hello friends! Not to fear, I have not lost my mind. I am aware that it is not really Monday. Truth be told, I meant to post this yesterday, but was called away on short notice to undertake a massive painting job before I could finish. So pleasure forgive me for my tardiness, but better late than never, here we go!

Welcome everyone to another beautiful week on This Darling Adventure! It is good for you to be here. Over the weekend, Andy and I grilled up wild moose burgers with friends (my apologies if you do not eat meat, but they were absolutely delicious), tried out a new board game called Greymatter, and FINALLY found a new home to call our own in a month! HOORAH!

Anyhoo, enough about the weekend and moose meat…. (Get on with it, Laura). Well, friends, today we have the wonderful opportunity to gather ’round for another Meaningful Monday, that time of the week where we get to dig a little deeper. Without further adieu, let’s get started.

This morning I went for a stroll through the forest, which was turned into a winter wonderland overnight. A coating of frost seemed to hug each tree branch I passed. The crunch of snow beneath my swift footsteps filled the air with the sound of winter walking. All was still as I wound my way through the paradise of white.

It is definitely winter here in the north. The life that once was in the spring and summer has been long forgotten by nature and everything is covered by a blanket of snow, anticipating the still far-off changing of the seasons. Yet, I cannot help but recognize that there is an unmistakable beauty in this dead, frozen world of winter. It is a beauty that makes going for walks like these even better than during the seasons of growth and flourishing. It is a beauty that stands in the midst of what is dead, and calls attention to the bare limbs of trees that would otherwise be ashamed of their nakedness.

I don’t know about you but it seems like these days there are a lot of things to think about. Our world seems to be falling apart at the seams and getting a little cooky. Many people, including myself, look around and think that society as we know it is falling to pieces.

But in the midst of all of this, today I would like to challenge us. May we look for the beauty in the seasons where we do not see flourishing and growth. May we look for the beauty in the seasons where all has been lost and there seems to be no hope for the future. May we look for the beauty in the seasons of winter – those seasons where all we can see at first is death and destruction. May we look for and find the unmistakable beauty in our world today.

My friends, I know that when all is said and done, we are still faced with the realities and tragedies weighing down our hearts and world today. The issues and concerns of today’s society are far from solved, but may we be people who continually take moments to “walk” through our world and recognize the tremendous beauty that surrounds us. Perhaps we will find that there is in fact beauty in the dead of winter after all.

What beauty do you see? Feel at home to comment below! 🙂