How To Laugh and Live Through Your Winter Season

Are the weight of your days crushing you?

Do you feel like you are stuck in a bleak, barren winter season?

It doesn’t have to be that way. There is hope. Even a frozen seemingly lifeless wasteland has purpose. 

There is always hope. Even a frozen seemingly lifeless wasteland has purpose. Share on X

In 2004, I implemented our family’s first annual Winterfest. It’s goal? To demonstrate the joy that can come from winter. 

Annually for 7 years, we hosted an open house in the dead of winter, with the goal of being outside most of the day. Since we live in a State park, there was plenty of open space to do just that. A steep hill within walking distance provided great sledding and snowboarding, while the frozen lake just outside our living room window offered ice fishing and ice skating.

Cross country skis and snowshoes were set out for all to use. I even went so far as to have water bottles filled with colored water so little ones could “paint” the snow. 

Soups, warm drinks and appetizers filled the countertops, but the intent of the day was clear—learn how to enjoy winter. 

No one left that day without having laughed and played and lived … even in the midst of the winter season. 

There Is Hope

You can laugh and live through your winter season as well. There is hope.

First, know God has a purpose in implementing or allowing your current circumstances. Our struggles don’t exist in isolation. They are part of a bigger picture you cannot see right now. Reminding yourself of this won’t change your circumstances, but it may just ease the pain a bit.

Next, turn to Jesus. Stop holding onto your pain by trying to control the circumstances. Let go! Surrender your burdens to Him. Jesus Christ understands—He truly experienced hell on earth, and He has promised to see you through your “hell.” 

Third, look for even a tiny glimmer of life hidden in the deep recesses of your frozen landscape. They are there. Grind a hole through the ice to glimpse the swirl of life far below. Scrape away the snow to uncover the seeds waiting to sprout. There is never a time of barrenness that does not have life threaded through it, waiting to be revealed. 

Finally, invite others along. One can be a lonely number. Perhaps family and friends or even a kind stranger can see the life you can’t. 

You can laugh and live through your winter season. There is hope. Share on X

Don’t let the barrenness of tough circumstances rob you of the gift of this day. Plan a “Winterfest” and invite encouragers that will help you laugh and play and live through your winter season. 

Begin living, spring will come!