winter to spring: a Resurrection reflection

dear pretty white stuff on the ground,
your time is over and winter is done.
please go away till Christmas cheer,
we seriously need some warmth this year!


I awoke from a glorious dream about returning to England (beautiful, summery England), to find a cover of white upon the ground. Normally I would jump for joy that it had snowed during the night. But this morning my heart grew sad. Warmth will come, I am certain of it...the sunshine speaks of warmer days in its golden touch. (Also, Mom, if you read this, I am still thinking of Frederick!)

It is only March; there is much time left in this transition the northern hemisphere makes between winter and spring. I have never wished for summer like I am wishing right now. Winter is my favourite season, but that's only if there is lots of snow. Now, here at the season crossroads, all of my being longs for warm sunshine, fresh breezes, and the scent of flowering trees. With all the snow melted (well, most of it since it snowed again), one can truly see how barren the earth is beneath the cover of white.

This transition time is so perfect for the season of Lent, because it is during this time that we remember the transformation we have gone through as God's children and will go through when He takes us home. The cold winter strips away anything living and reveals the barrenness that mirrors our human souls, but the snow comes to cover the earth and make it white. Jesus came and took all our sins upon Him, covering us and making us white. We are still upon this earth, still broken sinners, but He has taken them from us. And then in the springtime all things begin to grow again, being fed by the warmth of the sun and water from the melting snow. Suddenly, sometimes overnight, the brown and gone and has been replaced and enhanced with riotous greenery. Spring has sprung! We are like the springtime in the Resurrection, because we too will be made new, having been washed by the blood of Christ. When we enter His kingdom, spring has sprung. And celebrating Easter, Resurrection Sunday, in the springtime is perfect.

A poor analogy for what will truly be the most glorious moment, but one that makes me smile. Being able to visualize (in a sense) our salvation is incredible. God created this world, so why shouldn't it reflect Him and His plan?

an in-between time

The snow still covers the ground, which is fine with me, but I also would like to get outside without having to wear winter boots. That would be nice. The air is slowly warming up, and it did rain over the weekend. But it snowed again yesterday. Ah well. Such is Wisconsin!

My blog is suffering in this in-between time, as we transition from winter to spring. Not having a camera really doesn't help. I seriously hate posting without pictures, especially because many of my post ideas need pictures. I entered a giveaway over at Mommypotamus for the Canon T3i, which is the camera that I've been drooling over for a long time now. The giveaway ends at the end of the month, I think. Crossing my fingers and hoping hard! In the meantime, we have some spare cash, so maybe I'll just bite the bullet and buy an inexpensive point-and-shoot camera. Or go for the all-weather one from Nikon since that'd be apropos for our lifestyle. Hmm. Decisions.

At this point, I'm planning out the vegetable garden, ordering seeds, basking in every little bit of sunshine there is (speaking of which, be right back!), mourning the melting snow (yes, I really do like to hang onto winter; besides, melting snow makes me sad), and mentally planning the camping trips that we'll never get to take.

So, back to my cup of organic coffee and my seed catalogs.

whoo, I watched the Oscars

They weren't that great. Well, the show itself was, because host whatshisname was pretty amusing most of the time. And I loved the James Bond tribute. And though I haven't seen Silver Linings Playbook, I thought Jennifer Lawrence was so incredibly sweet when she won and she probably did deserve the award, but some of the winners I didn't think were right. But I also haven't actually seen all the films nominated, so yeah. I could definitely have done without Michelle Obama's appearance, though. It was totally wrong for her to be the one reading who won Best Picture. I mean, seriously. Just, no. Go away. PLEASE.

Beyond that, the weekend wasn't too exciting. Other than flinging myself off my snowmobile on Saturday afternoon because I hit a huge patch of ice at the top of a hill and went sliding sideways so fast that it probably would have rolled over if I hadn't bailed. The ice didn't feel very good, let me tell you that much. But five minutes later, I was fine (after I cleaned all the snow out of my helmet!! It's a miracle my glasses didn't break again...), and I don't even have a bruise, nor does it hurt. Weird. The rest of me hurts, but that's normal aches and pains from a night of riding. The trails kind of sucked, but hey, the end of the season is near. Though now there's more snow in the forecast. Eesh.

Spring could come, one of these days. Now that the snowmobile trails are almost all ice, they're treacherous and not much fun, so I'm not against all the snow melting. And since it is almost March, I want to see some green.

In other news, I hope this week is better than the last two. I am (finally) getting new glasses this week, which is exciting. Thinking about getting some hipster frames. ^_~ I'm also getting contacts, because I just can't stand wearing my glasses snowmobiling anymore. Plus if I get hipster frames, they'll be too big for my helmet...haha.

Geez, I wish I had a camera.

colour my world/a Lenten musing

The first three photos were taken in summer of 2011 (I think) at my family's home in Illinois. Currently,  I miss colour. The world is white and brown, which is beautiful of course, since we all know I adore snow. But February is nearing its end now; I find myself longing to see green buds on the trees and hear birds singing in those trees. We have another snowstorm coming; exciting as always. But as I page through my Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog and pick what I will grow this year, I wish I could open the windows and feel a warm breeze. Spring breezes have a certain scent to them. I don't mean the ones that smell of manure and farms! I mean the other ones, those that smell warm.

Lent is also upon us. We sang the hymn in that last picture both on Ash Wednesday and last Sunday. When Lent comes so early, it's a bit of a shock; we think of Easter as being in the springtime. And it will be -- it comes on the last day of March. Easter, that is. So perhaps Lent being so early isn't a bad thing. As winter holds on and spring struggles to break through, we can be reminded of our Lord and Savior's struggle with Satan and death and how He won, just like spring overcomes winter each and every year.

Yes, I love winter. I kind of hate summer. Autumn is awesome. But spring is a good time to be contemplative, and that's something I look forward to as the weather warms up.

welcome to "a blissful simplicitea"

Greetings, and welcome to my lifestyle blog! As you can see in the header, this blog is for recipes (probably lots of recipes -- I have an obsession with cooking and baking), natural health and wellness, various crafts and DIY projects I take on, thoughts on marriage and life in general, and tea. Yes, always tea.

I am hoping for this blog to give others inspiration while also giving me inspiration and building my confidence, because the largest goal is to eventually build a business. Granted, this is a very large goal, and probably quite far away, possibly unattainable. But I hope that anyone who follows me will enjoy the journey, and perhaps learn a few things along the way.

You'll have to bear with me during the early stages of this blog. I do not have a working camera -- just my iPod and cell phone. My iPod photos turn out rather grainy for reasons I don't know, and my cell phone is unfortunately not good with transferring photos. I am saving for a DSLR, but in the meantime I hope to purchase a simple point-and-shoot. I also do have a Polaroid that I will experiment with, but that's a separate topic for later posts. ^_^

Posting will be somewhat sporadic in these early days, especially as I am still fiddling with the blog layout and stuff. So, here's to the beginning of a new adventure! I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Sound and Silence

Greetings from Lake Michigan! It is 62 degrees and sunny; a simply gorgeous day.

Yes, I know. It has been spring for nearly a month now. But who's counting? Spring in Wisconsin in almost nonexistent. Nothing but winter, winter, winter, mud, then -- BAM -- it's summer.

That's not the point of this, however.

Have you ever noticed how the world is so much quieter in the wintertime? There is a silence that blankets everything, like the snow that blankets the grass, trees, and houses. The wind does not sweep through the trees with the same sound; there are no leaves. There are no birds singing; they spend winter in warmer climes. There is even a silence where you expect to hear the bugs and insects.
In the winter, though the white snow is one of the most beautiful sights, the world is dead.

And then in the spring we see the grass once more, though it may be brown and lifeless for a short time. But suddenly the world awakens! You can blink and the green appears. Birds sing once more, leaves bud on the trees that no longer look barren and haunted. No longer is the world silent.

What a perfect picture of resurrection! It is no wonder that we celebrate Easter in the springtime. Just as the world dies in the autumn and appears lifeless all winter, Jesus Christ died on the cross on that first Good Friday and was dead in the tomb for three days.
Just as the world awakens to new life each spring, Jesus Christ rose from the tomb, fully alive, on that first Easter morning.

Cherish the changing of the seasons, just as God cherished His fallen creation enough to send His only Son to die a horrible death and rise again that we might receive eternal life with Him.