{"id":1659,"date":"2016-01-12T02:53:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T02:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2016-01-12T02:53:24","modified_gmt":"2016-01-12T02:53:24","slug":"singing-a-song-even-in-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/?p=1659","title":{"rendered":"Singing A Song Even In Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.<\/em><\/p>\n

~Anne Bradstreet~<\/em><\/p>\n

Winter entices us all\u00a0to remain more in doors, and rewards us with a sense of courage when we go out.<\/p>\n

Winter gives us all a good reason to slow down and enjoy solitude, while also giving us an opportunity to really feel loneliness if we aren’t careful how much we sit in silence.<\/p>\n

Winter brings out child like joy at the arrival of the first snow fall, and can push the older hearts to grumble as it lingers on.<\/p>\n

Christmas is in winter.<\/p>\n

Christmas gives the darkest time of year a chance to shine.<\/p>\n

The lights, the love, the community; when found Christmas warms one to the middle no matter what the thermometer reads.<\/p>\n

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\"IMG_20151223_114619_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a lot of unexpected stress this season but oh so much more blessing.\u00a0 I truly do enjoy much about winter;\u00a0except, perhaps,\u00a0those emotions…\u00a0the\u00a0emotions that\u00a0don’t cooperate as much this time of year.\u00a0 The same things about winter that seem comforting to me also seem to encourage melancholy.\u00a0 I decide to be of good cheer, and to\u00a0wait on the Lord for that joy to blossom like spring… just like I decide almost daily to GO out into winter and feel brave and healthy.<\/p>\n

Story time… cheerful story time.<\/p>\n

Let me tell you about one evening that I don’t have to romanticise as it was just perfectly real in its romance.\u00a0 My children and I were invited to sing for the seniors club Christmas\u00a0supper, held just down the street from our house.\u00a0 Snow had arrived and was still freshly new;\u00a0soft and bright looking.\u00a0 Christmas lights were up.\u00a0 Night came very early now.\u00a0 The town was still and silent under the heavy snow and dark.\u00a0 BUT there was peace in the air, and no gloom, as the kids and I prayed to be calm\u00a0singing for our neighbors.\u00a0 Bundled up to head out and\u00a0dressed in our Sunday best we looked a picture of days gone by; boys in ‘driving caps’ and the girls in color and lace.\u00a0 All of us were cheerful\u00a0but nervous walking through the night to the hall.\u00a0 We were praying under our breath still and some giggles were heard.\u00a0 The brightly lit hall was warm and packed full of kind neighbors.<\/p>\n

We sang and played, encouraging the audience to join in as we shared well known Christmas hymns.\u00a0\u00a0Silent Night and other Christmas hymns are so\u00a0familier we can all drum up memories that really make Christmas feel like it is supposed to feel… a time of holiness, tradition and family.\u00a0 Our neighbors clapped, encouraged and chatted with us after the singing ended.\u00a0 Their thanks and enjoyment sent us home warm and still bubbling with song.\u00a0 As we walked off toward home we sang aloud ‘WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS’ totally hoping to be heard and knowing the minute we would stop the night and dense snow would swallow up the sound like a quickly and solidly closing door.\u00a0 BUT we took that singing and joy home with us.\u00a0 We talked on about how wonderful it was to get to sing for our town folk, to live in our town, to really enjoy winter and Christmas with all it has to offer.\u00a0 We all talked ourselves to sleep…\u00a0 Snug in bed I whispered thanks over and over to my God for how the heavy blanket of winter can make peace feel more real… I thanked my Jesus for family time and uninterrupted celebration with neighbors.\"IMG_20151215_110704_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That kind of night is why I still like winter… and why I am thankful for Christmas.\u00a0 This is why I can wait for spring.<\/p>\n

But as for me, I will look to the LORD;\u00a0I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.<\/em><\/p>\n

~Micah 7:7<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"12345620_10206936158716273_4275718041874311367_ncrop\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TTFN<\/p>\n

Always<\/p>\n

Lady Mac an Rothaich<\/p>\n

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If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~Anne Bradstreet~ Winter entices us all\u00a0to remain more in doors, and rewards us with a sense of courage when we go out. Winter gives us all a good reason […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,8,17,14,10,16,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1659"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667,"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions\/1667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ladymacblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}