Grace in Winter.

Grace in winter
is warm rays of sunlight
dancing across red barn boards
and hardwood floors
and making pools of warmth
in fields of encrusted snow.

Grace in winter
is a dazzling cobalt sky
cloaking a world

of icy white
creating a spectacle

of warmth and light
in a season so gray and bitter.

Grace in winter
is the soft embrace of a favorite scarf
protecting cheeks from biting cold
making one feel safe and bold
even as north winds howl.

Grace in winter
is the refuge of a big barn wall
concealing one from the frigid blast
reminding one not to stray far past
the shelter therein proffered.

Grace in winter
is the melting of hardened icicles
fluid drops slipping
silent and tender
from crystal fingers
cold and slender.

Without winter
there should be no need of grace
Without grace
all would be winter
Grace does not remove me from winter
or abolish winter from my life
Grace sees me through.

Grace is…
sunlight

and color
warmth

and protection
beauty

and blessing
in a world that is cold
and gray
stark
and buried
crying out for redemption.

Redemption has come
and even now continues to do its work
sanctifying unto itself a new creation
that one day soon
will break forth in glorious bloom.

A creation that has been steeped in grace
will break forth in grace
and will result

in a world
where there is nothing but…
Grace.

thoughts inspired by L.L’s challenge at Seedlings in Stone.