Winter Blues

Do you ever have the Winter Blues? I don’t know about you, but I don’t like winter with its cloudy, cold, dark weather.  I have such a hard time getting out of bed in the winter.

I am, for the most part, a pretty optimistic person, however when I don’t get sun, I struggle. When I am cold, I struggle to be motivated, disciplined and strong. The worst parts of me come out in the winter. I think I’m a bear meant to hibernate.

I recently heard a Christian speaker talk about how in life we go through seasons of the soul.   Fall is a time of change. Winter is a time where life is difficult and hard. Spring is filled with newness. Summer is when times are pleasant and abundant with life. 

I have had some times in my life where I was in a season of Winter. I didn’t just have the winter blues, but I had seasons of winter in my soul. I was filled with devastating anxiety and depression that would not lift, beyond the blues or sadness, beyond anything circumstantial, but at a point of despair, hopelessness, and darkness. During these times I’ve learned that I must do what I do in the winter months.  I must hold out for hope that spring is coming, that there will be the warmth of sunshine again and new life and beauty with the pleasant season of summer once again.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” 

Ps. 43:5

As I enter into this blog space, I hope to share more of my struggles during these times and how God brought me through the cold darkness into the warm light and life of Spring and Summer.  Making it through the dark gives me hope for the next season of winter, and I hope it will for you too.