Dear Friends,

We have come to the end of January.  While this week was warmer than last week, every time the wind blows and the sun sets, I feel the chill return and I remember that we are still in the deep winter.

We are also in the middle of the Epiphany season, a season that doesn’t simply end with the visit of the Magi right after Christmas.  It is an entire season about seeing the extraordinary in the everyday. It lasts until Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, and this year that doesn’t happen until March 5.  We still have a month to go!

So how will you use the next month of Epiphany to uncover some extraordinary things in your life?  Whether you feel snow crunching, ice cracking or mud mushing under your feet, we know that the frozen world will soon give way to something else. There is awe and beauty in this season and there is so much more in our world than what we accept as “ordinary.”

Winter will yield to spring in its own time. It is not ours to choose. Yet when we can take this time to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, our spirits will thaw on their own accord.  Katherine May, the author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times said, “Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.” May you discover your inner crucible and may it thaw your spirit and light the way to the many places God is revealed in your life this winter.

May it be so.

Love,
Cheryl