There is something about a sunny day in February, isn’t there?

Something refreshing, rejuvenating, even healing. In the midst of those weary gray days of winter, to have a bright warm day is quite the blessing. Even though we know that there is more of cold to come, more mornings of hard thick frost on the windshield, we feel a certain sort of cheer when the temperature gets quite near to sixty and the few clouds in the sky are high and white. Whatever else there is in our minds, we find a way to feel good, to return the smiles that greet us in the hallway, the cheerful wave from across the street. There is something about a sunny day in February, isn’t there?

Maybe a part of that is the change, the difference from the cold chilling cut of the wind. Maybe part of it is that it’s so obvious: bright sun, clear skies, warm air. Hard to miss that, Captain Obvious! Maybe part of it, too, is that it’s so easy to welcome and so obviously shared. Who doesn’t like a warm, sunny day in February?

The real challenge is to be that difference, to recognize the realities about us and yet still maintain a cheerful countenance. We don’t have to be human canaries, cheerfully chirping our way down the hall. Even the silent sparrow can bring some encouragement, just by doing what is needed without complaining, without declaring its misery while scratching through the snow on a bitterly cold day.

We all go through times when it’s not easy to see the good, not easy to believe in brighter days ahead. It’s easy to forget the promises that we have: God’s presence, God’s provision, God’s healing, God’s cleansing, God’s grace. And, one of my favorites: “He who has begun a good work in you will continue it until the day of His returning, until its completion in your being made complete and whole in Him.”

You want to ruin my day? Not impossible, and sometimes not even difficult. But at the end of that day and every other one, I will remember the Power that is working in me, the Grace that sustains me, and the Love that moves in me. I’m not there yet but I know that I am headed toward Heaven and every day between here and there is a day that He has made.

Why would I not choose to rejoice in it? Regardless of the weather…

H. Arnett
2/16/16