It is gray now. Winter has arrived for sure. There is an island of green here and there… An occasional azalea or magnolia or best of all a field of winter wheat. I get so starved for green and yellow and red and pink…too much gray all around me.

The things that rescue in winter’s gray season are the winter jasmine, Japanese apricot, and the daphne. They are the first winter joys that bring back some color to life. The happy little yellow bells of winter jasmine look like yellow light bulbs glowing. They stop you in your tracks. Such extraordinary color.

Japanese apricot is the deepest rose color but the bonus is the scent of orange and spice those blooms emit. You can smell it all over the yard. The delicate blooms can be deceiving. There have been years I was certain the blooms had been lost. Freezing rain had covered every limb and bloom. But every time this happens, those little blooms keep blooming. Freezing temperatures and freezing rain do not deter them.

And the daphne..beautiful white and pink blossoms on a rounded compact bush. And again they give you the morning surprise of walking outside to smell the spicy fragrance those little blooms give.

They give me hope in the gray time. I know that soon the camellias will be opening and the Lenten roses will bloom. The daffodils will start to push through the soil and beauty will return.

It has been that way in the winter seasons of my life. In the very worst circumstances of death and loss, Abba God has ALWAYS given gifts of encouragement. Simple acts of kindness or His touch…but He encouraged always in some way. No matter how tough, Abba gives those reminders that we are not without hope. Winter seasons do come. But they are just that…a season. We won’t live there for always.

Trust Abba God. Look for Him. He does take us through. He never leaves us or forsakes us.