Seasons in a lifetime.

The spring of growth and refreshment.

The summer’s enjoyment of warmth.

The autumn change. 

And the winter’s stillness.

Frosty.  Cold.  And often bitter.

Eyes absorbing the bleak.  The chill biting my flesh.  Hearing the sharp cracking of ice.

A numbing from exposure to the frigid.

The dead of winter.

I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, in the suffering, in the daily, in all the days before I die, the moments before I sleep. (Ann Voskamp)

Laboring to see the beauty in the barren. 

An intentional seeking to find God.

I will not give up.

Practice is the hardest part of learning, and training is the essence of transformation. (Ann Voskamp)

Finding the fruit of winter is possible.  But only to those willing to practice. 

The practice of giving thanks…eucharisteo…this is the way we practice the presence of God, stay present to His presence, and it is always a practice of the eyes.

We don’t have to change what we see.

Only the way we see. (Ann Voskamp)

A shifting of the posture of my heart and refocusing my vision.

Not changing what I see.

Changing the way I see. 

Today, I link up with fruit finders around the globe. 

Those practicing and laboring to find the winter fruit. 

Multitudes of fruit fill the winter season.

Today, I find God in the seemingly small but thoughtful acts of love…

Caleb’s thoughtfulness to make lemonade for Camden

Camden bringing my toothbrush to me at 4:30am to save me a trip to the other bathroom

Coming home each morning at 6:00am to find my husband has made our bed

Camden bringing Caleb a book from his school’s library

A Valentine card brimming with words of love (and a gift certificate for a massage)