empty spaces…

… well, I did it. I took down the decorations, put away the tree and now my house seems empty and joyless. With all the greenery off the porch the house looks almost abandoned from the exterior. The lights aren’t sparkling in the window and the smell of pine is gone. It just looks stark and cold. Winter.

I long for the delicate buds of color dotting the trees that announce the arrival of spring. The longer days of warm sunlight.

With the decorations boxed away you really notice the contrast of the season. You get used to twinkling lights, shiny ornaments and bright red Christmas flowers. When its gone you feel the absence of joy.

Christ is that joy, that light that illumines the season.

Then its gone.

This is the part of winter that makes you long for that light again, the new life of Spring and the heralding of Easter.