Dreary Winter Day
Monday, January 19th, a thick fog hangs over the winter sky at a freezing 23 degrees. The mountain across the river struggles to rise above the dense gloom. The ridge pushes through confused clouds. The mountaintop wonders, “Why can’t I see past the clouds and reach the blue sky?”
I feel the same. The weight of gray skies and cold, stagnant air clouds my thoughts. Though I try, I want to be joyful in this colorless world.
So, I wait.
Even so, don't worry—this blog will end happier than when it started.
My husband brings me a latte. I am eager for the caffeine kick.
Today, I have a choice: to wallow or to watch.
I could wallow in sadness, dwell on winter's negatives, or go back to bed and wait for the sun, which won't return for about two months.
Or I can watch.
Or I can watch my day unfold: see Trumpeter Swans on the river, play fetch with my shepherds, Brady and Archer, walk with my husband, enjoy deer running through the fields, chat with my mom, feed the fawns their third meal, work out, and read Psalms. God reframes life with his perspective in the Psalms.
My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters (worries) or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child, I am content. Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore. Psalm 131
Chris Tiegreen writes in his book, Psalms, A Devotional Commentary, “the Psalmist sets great and awesome matters aside and focuses our gaze not on whys and why-nots but on the Lord who holds his children in his arms.”
My attitude shifts. The weather remains unchanged. I still can’t see the mountain's top, which continues searching for blue sky. My circumstances stay the same, but my perspective is changing. I watch two ducks flutter in the river, chattering about the ducklings that will be born in the Spring. Watching God’s creation gives me peace like a weaned child. It is the simple things in God’s creation which changes my blahs. I watch and put my hope in the Lord now and forever.