The Sun Still Shines in February

It's no secret that winter is my least favorite season, no secret that I struggle to find joy in freezing temperatures, no secret that I long with ardor for the warmth and longer light of spring days.

However, as I've been working on attaining and maintaining a spirit of contentment this winter, I have found some things about this season for which to be grateful!

1. The sun still shines in February! Yes, it really does; and when it sparkles off the snow-covered ground, it's dazzling.

2. Plants still grow! At least, this young tender sprout of a marigold plant is indeed growing in our kitchen windowsill. When Josiah brought this cup of dirt out of his Sunday school class, I had my doubts about whether anything would really come up. But it did! Rather, they did, for now two lovely stems are poking their little heads out of the dirt and lifting my spirits with the promise of new growth.
3. We don't have to worry about bee stings in the winter.

4. There are no hordes of ants roaming my kitchen, looking for stray crumbs or bits of juice on the countertops.

5. No mosquito bites.

6. No swarms of buzzing flies. (See the theme here?) :)

7. There is no pressure to work outside in the garden.

8. I don't think to myself, "I'd better go weed that flowerbed now!"

9. No need to rake leaves. (The above three items I do enjoy, by the way; but the fact that I don't have to do them--or even think about doing them--in the winter frees up my time to accomplish other things, like...)

10. Lots of time for reading to the boys! If I could snap a picture that epitomizes this winter so far, it would be me sitting on the couch, with Josiah on one side and David on the other, and a pile of books beside us (Farmer Boy is a current favorite). Or if I could record a sound, it would be Jeff's voice reading The Chronicles of Narnia to the boys. Perhaps when summer comes with its long glorious evenings outside, I'll wish for the chill of winter when nothing was more appealing than cuddles and books.