Everything is still white around me. There is so much white space. White space, as in a lot of snow. A lot to this Southerner, I should say. Even with the sun shining, the snow-covered ground shines back with a twinkle, not letting go of the white because of the bitter cold temperatures.

The snow and ice are still lingering at my house. Covered first with snow and then layered with ice, my driveway has kept me in for a week. Maybe you, too.

Deep within me, I know that I need to embrace winter. While everyone looks great in cute boots and scarves, I would rather casually relax in flip-flops. But knowing that I can’t fast forward to springtime, I’m asking myself what I can glean from all this cold white that has kept me in.

Perhaps we can linger a while longer with the stillness the snow ushers in. What can we “see” or learn from all this white?

We all know that the snow slows us down. With icy roads, the rush to and from has to cease. Whether we want to stop or not, sometimes we’re forced to. However, what if we linger with the stillness instead of feeling interrupted?

I’m learning to embrace the rest from interruptions like snow and ice. While an interruption, it’s also an invitation to pause. With the snow and life happenings interrupting my own life, I’m seeing that while it may feel cold and lonely at the moment, growth will spring forth. While not now, it will come.

Not yet. But that is when we must hold onto hope.

We can pause from rushing around for a few days. We can rest by simply looking around at the beauty of how God has beautifully designed this earth. There’s even an invitation to be amazed at the wonder of how every snowflake is designed differently. Every single one of them. Just like you and me.

And while I would be perfectly fine with one season (summertime), I know every season has a purpose. Even in the times of darkness and cold in our lives, light and warmth will follow.

This white expanse, all this white space as I look out, is an invitation for me to notice the space. To make space to grow. I’ve been reading Job for weeks, and I can’t even imagine what it really looks like to see “the storehouses of the snow” (Job 38:22), which are only truly known by our Creator.

Perhaps wintertime is a storehouse for our growth to come. Deep within the ground, roots are still alive. Before long, we’ll see trees sprouting leaves and flowers popping up. But until then, what can we see in the winter?

When I lean into the One living within me, I see the snow as white space to dream and linger in the stillness as I anticipate something new to come. Just as everything takes time, what if winter is that perfect storehouse for what is forming deep within you?

There is life even when winter makes the trees appear lifeless. Despite the cold and shorter days, life is within us.

Give ear and come to me, hear me that your soul may live.

Isaiah 55:3

I found this Scripture verse to be perfect for uplifting my soul on a cold winter morning. I thought of how my soul lives with joy and peace as God’s word resonates with my spirit. Despite the cold and hardships and my longing to see spring, I know that there is beauty underneath as I look out and see all this white space, this blanket of snow.

Growth may take a while, but in the meantime, something is being shaped and formed.

Soon enough, my driveway will be clear, and I’ll be back in the daily routine, but for now, I will lean into the stillness and embrace the goodness even in winter.