Terri Gillis Photography

We are all about over winter, right?  Last fall this lovely bride became engaged and  she had her heart set on winter, silver and snowflakes.  She was nervous that winter would be over before her wedding date, March 1.  (As if we even had to worry about the snow disappearing….Will it ever??).  So I post these beautiful images and I have warm thoughts in my heart.  The season of winter  is dormant…. things are quieter, the pace is a little slower, I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning.  I think too much. I worry too much.  I’m restless.  A season of rest that has caught my attention…. How have I been doing this job all these years?? When did my little daughter turn into a teenager?  How is my oldest son 20??  I look at the wonderful man that I’ve loved for so long, been married to for 21 1/2 years, and wonder how on earth he looks at me, this mess, and yet he remains….and I really do love him more than ever… AND why do we have SO MUCH SNOW?!?!?!

I heard Stephen Curtis Chapman talking on the radio today about being married for 33 years and the realization that marriage isn’t about having it figured out, it’s about being there day after day….season after season.  No matter what season you take you vows, a new marriage is most definitely like spring…. a new season,  a new beginning, a new blossom of life.  The seasons will change and will require you to adjust, refocus, let go, hold on tighter, fight, give in, apogogize, accept an apology,  wait, hope, be still, and you will do A LOT of shoveling (both literally and figurtively if you live in Michigan) in your lifetime.  You’ll navigate, negotiate, clear, reorganize,  making room for more, getting rid of excesss, you’ll trim, tighten, water, fertilize….. and harvest.  Spring becomes summer; summer becomes fall; fall becomes winter, the young become old, my computer runs slower, my body becomes weaker….but I take comfort.   We don’t want to become “bored” so we must embrace and enjoy the change.  I’m thankful for the winter, because even though it can be cold and dark, the beauty of it is still there if you look for it. (Be. Still.)  Although I am hopeful and READY for spring and warmer days let us never lose sight of the season we’re in, what we’ve been brought through, lessons we’ve learned and what we have to forward to.