South facing windows

     This is exactly why I said I needed south facing windows; for days like these.  Below zero – wind chill making it even further below zero – and I’m chilled to the bone. 
     What a gift to be able to return home today and see the bright afternoon sun shining through our windows and being able to grab a chair face the window and feel the healing chill-melting warmth of the sun.
     I have a friend who told me she was going on a bike ride with her especially designed bike created to handle frozen lakes and snowy trails.        There is nothing within me that makes me want to ever do that. In deciding which house to buy this last summer I almost passed by this beautiful home built in 1900 just because it did not have an attached garage. Without an attached garage, it meant that I would have to walk out the door of my house and walk down the sidewalk-outside in the elements… in the cold… snow or  rain before I could get to my car in the garage. I decided I would be able to manage having a garage not attached to my house only because I know I have a remote starter that I can press after I push the button to open the garage door. Yes,  I can start my car while standing in my house and it will be warm before I get there.
     Back to my friend with her bike. I have no doubt she has been enjoying these winter months including these very cold days. She has chosen to embrace the beauty of winter by getting out and enjoying it unlike myself who prefers to enjoy it through my sun-filled window.
     Yes there is a part of me that realizes I am missing the fullness of the season that I am in. To fully accept and embrace where I am probably means taking the risk to get a little cold. Seeing the snow covered trees in the distance is not the same as feeling the snow crunch beneath my feet and looking up to see the beauty of freshly fallen snow on the branches above me. 
     What a gift to be able to fully embrace the season and the life we’ve been given! 
     I may NEVER embrace long bike rides in any of the four seasons of the year like my friend. Yet I can choose to embrace this season… this moment, to feel the chill and then feel the warmth and step out of my comfort zone to be all God intends me to be to touch the lives of those He sends my way and be changed by those who walk (or ride) into my days.