The Silence of Winter.

God speaks in the silence of the heart. - St. Teresa of Calcutta

The bitter coldness scraped my cheekbones, so drying yet quenching at the same time.
Beneath my feet, the delicate snow crunched.

The steam from the buildings shone with the sun in whirlwinds of spirals
and although I wanted to do the same magic with my breath, my chapped lips were shut tight.

This was not the winter I knew, the winter so familiar was one with a family surrounding me and the smell of the wood burning stove in the cramped space in the cabin of a mountain we chose to drive up on.

This winter encountered was one that made my body lifeless and my ears nonexistent. Yet my ears became open to another sound.

It was the stillness of the snow that consumed my heart as it became frostbit and impossible to hear.
The silence of the bursting wind made it impossible to hear my thoughts and my fingertips became icicles that hung lifeless against my sides.

Yet inside, the only voice I could hear was that of Mama's. She took me under her mantle that was warm, real, and right and whispered in my hear, "Your Father loves you."

The lack of my own mom made me fear that I'd never be cared for out here in the nowhere-ness of Ohio. But Mary took this orphan in and chipped my heart out of it's frozen state, to deliver it to her son.

I am forever grateful for the season. It's barren and frigid winds warmed my spirit and made me rely on my heavenly parents for comfort.

Enjoy the silence of winter. It is the best noise your humble ears could ever encounter.