Winter's Great Silences

February 23, 2021

Winter's Great Silences

“But now she loved winter. Winter was beautiful "up back"—almost intolerably beautiful. Days of clear brilliance. Evenings that were like cups of glamour—the purest vintage of winter's wine. Nights with their fire of stars. Cold, exquisite winter sunrises. Lovely ferns of ice all over the windows of the Blue Castle. Moonlight on birches in a silver thaw. Ragged shadows on windy evenings—torn, twisted, fantastic shadows. Great silences, austere and searching. Jewelled, barbaric hills. The sun suddenly breaking through grey clouds over long, white Mistawis. Icy-grey twilights, broken by snow-squalls, when their cosy living room, with its goblins of firelight and inscrutable cats seemed cosier than ever. Every hour brought a new revelation and wonder.”

-The Blue Castle

Icy grey twilights of winter really are beautiful. Especially if one is observing aforementioned twighlights from the comfort of their own cozy living room with a cat sleeping deeply on their lap. It’s been an odd past month of emotions, busyness, waiting on answers, and more times than not, dull days. Every time I tried to sit down and blog, I lacked inspiration. Yet, as I told my flatmate Avrie this morning- “What is better inspiration then the Lord providing [hope] and satisfaction?”

This past week, indeed month, I’ve reflected how different yet how similar life was a year ago. Last year during the month of February, I cried, prayed, laughed, wrote, and survived. One year later while crying, praying, laughing, writing, and surviving different things, I am once again being reminded of Jeremiah 17:7:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”

Paraphrasing this verse, my mom said these words a year ago, and they still ring true today— “When things seem so over the top, that generally is the Lord. Continue to seek him on this and not what “man” has to say. In other words, only listen to godly words about this.”

With that in mind, the month of February tackled many questions I’ve had about life—for one, I finally found out that SNHU will be accepting all 18 Oxford credits! Praise the Lord! I have a call with my academic adviser tonight to discuss my degree plan. While I have 2 jobs currently (I’m back at Canton house on Friday nights, helping Yawen with carry out, and I have been working remotely a marketing internship for my flatmate’s dad’s company in Texas), I received an email this morning from a Social Media Managerial position located in Baltimore (it also is remote), confirming a contract! This was especially exciting, as the wage is very good, and the experience will be great for my CV, as well as the fact that I am skipping multiple years of needed experience for a position such as this.

I'm still pinching myself—my degree is not graphic design or even development and strategy, but I just got a managerial job not even having a BA... It just proves that God will open doors regardless of your qualifications.

I’ve come to realize very quickly that as Anne says, “I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe the best does,” it rings true for every stage in life. Like the quote, I've learned to love winter (as long as I am inside on the 4 degree days). February's great silences, days of clear brilliance, and evenings that were like cups of glamour—the purest vintage of winter's wine, all reminded me that while some days when I lack inspiration, and often times don't know what lies around the bend, if I continue to trust the Lord, I will be blessed.

Per Usual,

Here are some pictures from my “icy-grey” February

Cheers!