A Season of Thanks, Day 9

It's easy for me to be thankful for spring. The warming of the soil. New life pushing its way up into the world. The swelling buds on tree limbs and bellies of farm animals bring the promise of new life.

It's harder for me to be thankful for fall. Sure the colors are beautiful, but the shortening days and chilly mornings remind me that winter is upon us. I dread the darkness and the rain, the need to defrost my car windows and keep track of my gloves.

This year, I am taking a different approach to winter. What if winter is not about death, but about rest? What if fall doesn't usher in the grave, but the blankets and pillows of nap time?

This fall, I am wrapping myself in the promise that hope doesn't only come in spring. In comes in the understanding that this time of dormancy is necessary for the cycle to begin again. I love the "sabbath rest" of a Sunday nap. Why not the sabbath rest of winter?

There remains, that a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

Hebrews 4:9-10