Beating Winter Blues

Shivering, I took out an old Blockbuster rental card at 7 a.m. and started scraping away at my car windows. Last week I was wearing flip flops and a tank top enjoying the sunshine of a 75-degree day. Today I awoke to a temperature hovering at 28 degrees and a thick layer of ice glistening over my little red Honda.

At the first real signs of winter I normally become a little bitter and threaten to move to a warmer climate where I can celebrate Christmas in a sundress while decorating a palm tree.

But I've decided to shift my mood this season and not get beat down by the winter blues. Here are a few things to aid Mission Merry Mood:

1. Without the entrance of cold weather, my mom would not be able to build her fabulous fires to read, eat and chat by. Besides the added bonus of making S'mores, it creates an inviting atmosphere for a cup of tea with my mom after work and a good place to nap!

2. The frost on the grass glistens like snow when the sun shines on it in the morning, so you get that Christmas card scene without having to shovel snow or plug in your car.

3. There are places like Curves that are fun to work out at so that I'm getting exercise during the winter and staying away from all those little colds people pass around. Community indoor pools are also a good option for another great winter cardio workout. And my French grandmother Jaqueline says if she does nothing else, she climbs the stairs in her house at least 10 times every day to get herself going (and to keep the hips small, as she told me).

4. A good homemade cup of hot chocolate with little marshmallows on top just wouldn't taste as good if I were spending Christmas in the island continent of Australia. It is nice to warm your hands by clutching them around a steaming mug and then feel hot liquid warm your insides.

5. Combining #4 and #1

6. A "hot now" Krispy Kreme donut and coffee make any brisk wind worth it. (I'll have to combine this one with #3 I suppose! Thanks to the Futrell's for a night out at the Fabulous Fox to see the Nutcracker and dessert afterwards!)

7. I figured out that if I get completely dressed with shoes on and all and then dry my hair, I'll be just warm enough to not die when I go out to start and defrost my car. Then my car is warm when I go out the next time to leave:)

Ok, so it's not quite a Top 10 list, but I said I'm "working" on finding ways to appreciate each new day...even if it's a frostbitten one (please comment with other ideas). This post stemmed from me getting up to go to work at the univeristy today even though all of my friends are home for the holidays already. Since I'm a GA, I'm on the staff schedule, not the student one. However, I decided just to get up and do it this morning and find a way not to waste a day for God just because I don't particularly want to be here. This mood setting came from reading "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis last night before falling asleep and reading the following from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest" this morning before work:

The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.