Dear God,<\/p>\n
It\u2019s cold outside and I\u2019m tired of it.<\/p>\n
I know I shouldn\u2019t complain. I am very fortunate. I live in a house with good heating. When I turn on my faucet I get steaming hot water. I take a hot shower. At night I sleep under a warm quilt. When I go out I bundle up with gloves, scarf, wool hat and a parka. For all that I am extremely grateful, Lord.<\/p>\n
But then the wind blows into my face, my nose drips, my cheeks burn, the cold rises up through my soles. My toes are frozen. My fingers, even in their gloves, don\u2019t want to move.<\/p>\n
Help me, Lord, see the beauty of it. The ice on the river is beautiful, the sun sparkles on icicles hanging from eaves. There is majesty in the power of the wind, the snow, the hail. \u201cHe gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He casts forth his ice like morsels. Who can stand before his cold?\u201d the psalmist said. (Psalm 147:16-17)<\/p>\n
Forgive me, Lord, if I get tired of it. I feel like my body is never going to thaw out. I look at pictures of warm places and feel only envy. I want to go for a long walk or run outside to praise you… but change my mind because of the cold.<\/p>\n
Summer will come, and I fear then that I will complain about the heat, forgetting winter. But for now, could you warm my heart a little? After all, the psalmist also added, \u201cHe sends forth his word, and melts them\u201d (Psalm 147:18). I wouldn\u2019t mind a little melting.<\/p>\n
Until then, let me praise you at all times, in the warm and the cold, in the thick and thin, when I\u2019m irritated and when I\u2019m glad. Let me be glad.<\/p>\n
Even in this cold. Amen.<\/p>\n