5 Ways to Survive the Winter Seasons of Life
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Hello sweet mama! How’re things in your busy days of motherhood?
Brrrr! The cold breezes of winter are upon us! But I gotta confess- I just love when Old Man Winter comes to visit, bringing with him, a thick, white blanket of beautiful snow to brighten the landscape! In my minds eye, I see the vibrant red plumage of cardinals flitting between snow covered branches, and the bounding deer and small game that are much more easily seen by my two manly hunters. Sleds are pulled from the shed, and across the hills you can hear the squeals and laughter of the children enjoying the great “blizzard”. A snowman smiles contentedly at me as I peer out the window to check on the children at play. Unfortunately, we only get about two big snows per winter, if we are lucky; but during this season of my life, winter is still one of my favorite times of the year.
As crazy as it may seem, January is also the time of year when my mind begins to turn to the garden. The kids and I get so exited when we see the Burpee catalog come in the mail! We get out our pencils and paper, and write down our little wish lists of vegetables we would like to grow for that year. (I think the kids go by which pictures look the tastiest!) Since we begin growing some of our seeds in February, we must quickly finalize our plan of attack on the hunk of mud in the back yard. In February/March, I like to start pruning the berries and fruit trees.By the way—(If you are interested getting a few fun, educational activities with your child in the garden, I plan to post some soon. If you would like to be notified when I do, you can sign up for my email for updates to my site).
My father in law is an excellent tree trimmer by trade. Watching him climb from branch to branch, pruning here and there, makes you wonder if the evolutionists have legit speculations on the ancestry of man! 🙂 By the time he finishes pruning, a person could wonder if he left enough for even an apple or two! (Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but to the person walking past our roost, it could appear as though we dragged our Charlie Brown Christmas tree outside and planted it!).
From our experiences with fruit trees, I’ve learned why it’s so important to prune them every year. It’s about quality verses quantity. If you don’t prune a fruit tree, the tree will produce an abundant number of fruit. The only problem is, the fruit that is produced will be very small. When you prune a fruit tree, yes, the tree produces fewer fruit; however, the fruit your tree produces will be large and beautiful. Something to be proud of right?
Also, pruning trees in their dormant season, is doing the tree a big favor. It gives the tree time
to heal from its wounds, creating a barrier to keep the bugs out in the spring and summer seasons. Bugs naturally look for the weakest point in the tree, and it is much easier to invade the tree in areas where the wood is freshly cut.
Our lives, mama, are like a tree. We are constantly giving to provide a happy environment for young growing minds. Sometimes we become like the unpruned tree….constantly giving, burning the candles at both ends, and not taking time out to care for ourselves. Our fruit can become smaller, our patience shorter, our answers more snappy, our expectations unreasonable, and our expressions sour. At those times, the fruit we produce may be much like the unpruned tree -small and unfulfilling, instead of luscious, juicy fruit.
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There are many stories, poems, and songs that relate the seasons of our lives to the ups and downs that we experience. Winter brings beauty to the landscape, joy during the holidays, and special opportunities for making memories with our loved ones. However, hard times in life are often likened unto the winter season. Wintertime is filled with long nights and short days, air is bitterly cold and dry, the nasty flu bug and it’s other virus friends start circulating our little neighborhoods, and, according to statistics, depression levels tend to reach their highs.
The winter season does provide some benefit to the tree. The cold temperatures kill many pests that can hinder or kill our fruit trees, and the winter season allows the tree to go dormant providing a rest period between active seasons of fruit growing. Our heavenly Father allows “winter seasons” in our lives to better us. He orders our life, and by His divine providence, allows circumstances to arise that effect our emotions, physical health, or finances. Or maybe a little off all three. Through His loving providence, He allows these (at times unwelcome) intruders to direct us from future situations, or bugs, that will try to invade our hearts and homes and destroy our lives and the lives of those we love. He lovingly gets out his pruning tools, and cuts away the dead branches of mean spiritedness, bitterness, lovelessness etc, and thins out the clutter of busyness in our life. Sometimes we need a little pruning as we become so busy with the cares of life that we fail to prioritize. Important things that should have priority such as: God, family, and other people end up suffering from our busyness. I’m reminded of the story of Martha and Jesus. We mammas sometimes have the tendency to become Martha-like in our approach to life and busy ourselves doing things for those we love instead of being with them. By “being”, I mean quality time. When life’s winter hits with all its fury, we have two possible responses. Will we get bitter and resentful over our times of pruning? Or will we take our storms before the Lord, and ask Him to help us to find His beautiful purpose for our lives?
It’s not always easy to make use of our winter seasons, but taking the time to do so can be very rewarding. By opening our hearts to the Lord’s winter prunings, we will be enabled to grow large, luscious fruit with which to serve others.
Here are 5 useful tips to help you through the winter you may be facing right now!
1.) Journal– write down what you are facing, and
how you are feeling. Write down how God leads you through to victory! You will find encouragement in years to come when your read how you overcame (fill in the blank).
2.) Pray– ask God to lead you through His word
on how to handle your circumstance.
3.) Read Your Bible– look up scriptures that
pertain to your situation. If your feelings do not
agree with the Word, ask God to change how you
feel.
4.) Find a Spiritual Friend– having someone to talk to and pray with you will be such a blessing and encouragement to you.
5.) Purchase a Good Devotional– I enjoy the
quarterly devotional by “Help Club For Moms”
You can do the devotional with them on
Facebook Live, and connect with other Christian
moms. If you miss the Facebook session, you
can listen to their podcast.
I hope this article was a blessing to your life. Do you have other ideas to help mothers through the tough times we face? Comment below!
