“You have consented to time and it is winter. The country seems bigger, for you can see through the bare trees. There are times when the woods is absolutely still and quiet. The house holds warmth. A wet snow comes in the night and covers the ground and clings to the trees, making the whole world white. For a while in the morning the world is perfect and beautiful. You think you will never forget.”
~ Wendell Berry, Hannah Coulter
Long, slow January mornings
Tidying the house and kitchen after Christmas, potting herbs on the back porch, feeding the bees, and herbal tea on a sore throat
A new planner in the mail
Jared’s sermons through Colossians
Trying to play pickleball against the cold winds
Crocheting little birthday gifts to send to the nieces and nephews
A carol of birds in our front tree, finches and fat cardinals
Making a big grocery order to start the month, buying more in bulk, stocking up the pantry and freezer like bears in hibernation
Finding a new workout rhythm together
The first few lectures in biblical counseling & Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp
Walking to Bud Walton stadium for an Arkansas basketball game, a basket of tacos, 100 points, and milkshakes on the way home
Cold, sunny run
Learning to roast and carve a whole chicken, saving all the bones for broth
On Monday nights, reading by the fire until Jared gets home
Dinner and Phase 10 with Chris & Emily
Taking down the Christmas tree and boxing up the ornaments Mema bought for me, finding handwritten notes in her lovely cursive on them
Exchanging the Christmas decorations for winter ones: candles and pinecones
Our neighbors and their kids walking over before dark to meet us
Clean-out-the-garage day, coming in late for afternoon coffee
A take n’ bake pizza while we watched Arkansas play Tennessee
Setting up the new Sunday School classroom which is full every week
Planning a baby shower for Kalynn
January Mondays for starting work, making sourdough for the freezer, cleaning out the fridge, chopping peppers, simmering broth on the stove
Afternoon work on the porch swing, seventy with sun
A sandwich on sourdough at The Fort Smith Coffee Company
Iced coffee with honey
Ordering laying hens for the spring!
Putting together the January church newsletter
Picking up raw milk each Wednesday from the Main Street Mercantile (and how it has cream on top)
Wednesday evening potluck and Richard’s stories from Korea and Germany
Planning the church ladies’ crochet club
Psalm 119
Sharing Scripture takeaways over breakfast
Calling Papa Jay
Using up the zucchini in the freezer from the summer garden, making cookies and pasta
Fermenting cabbage and carrots to make kimchi, Teresa letting me borrow her supplies and walking me through the process
FaceTime with a bouncy Barrett, Lila, and Elsie on their birthdays
Suiting up in bibs and masks to clean out our shop of mice and spiders and dust
Doug and Nancy swinging by
A hot lunch
Janaya’s daily updates after getting her wisdom teeth out
Smoked cheese on sourdough
Visiting Vesta on a Sunday evening and seeing everyone again; Violet sitting between Jared and I during service
Reading in a sunny corner of the kitchen before dinner
Poor Bishop Hooper’s Psalms albums
The start of the winter Inklings Writing Coaching semester; returning students and friendly faces
Topgolf with Jonathan and Faith
Orange juice, work emails, laundry, & planning
When grief is still heavy, Jared’s care & the comfort of the Scriptures
Amanda’s gift of encouragement
Silhouette of a bird on the feeder at sunrise
Phone calls to catch up with old friends
Stirring chili for the church cook-off and visiting with Nancy about canning
Afternoon walk and making up poems in my head
Christ’s peace
Meeting up with Becca, Tanner, Susie, & Andrew for a cold afternoon hike at one of our favorite lakes; catching up on so much life
Late sunlight falling over the lakewater and mountains, the warm drive home
A full Lord’s Day for a baptism, fellowship, worship, & communion
Watching a pair of mockingbirds dart through the trees at dusk, the quiet of winter settling over the woods
Little herbs sprouting on a sunny windowsill
This mini documentary about a man who films hummingbirds’ nests
Turmeric tea latte
A long sunset, the winter kind
Egg roll bowls
Stocking up on birdseed before the snow came
Going to the barber shop with Jared and the men sitting in their chairs, talking about the coming storm and all the snowstorms past
Snow that began in the night; watching it hurry down off the eaves under the floodlights
God’s Word—convicting, softening, sweet
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