Have You Ever Heard of Blue Monday?

Tonight at small group, the women and men split up to pray together in their groups, and we women were talking about "Blue Monday." Supposedly it was last Monday, and it is a day that has been coined blue because it's typically the week many people give up on their new year's resolutions (or fail miserably at keeping them). It's the mid-point of winter, people are depressed, and it's a day many people report feelings of depression and downright sadness. Now, I had never heard of this, but it made sense to me when I heard about it.

I know many people struggle with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and I've heard of people buying special lights to keep their spirits up, since the winter months tend to be dark and dreary much of the time. I know I have days when I look out the window at the cold and dreary day and wish I didn't have anything to do but curl up under my electric blanket and hibernate for as long as it takes for me to feel like going out. Alas, I am a mother, and this isn't exactly behavior that would win me that coveted "mother of the year" award. Ha! As if.

I was reminded tonight, that no matter what our circumstances, though the snow and sleet pour down, and the cold threatens to keep us in, God is the lifter of our heads and He truly does make all things new. Spring is around the corner, though it may not feel like it now. It reminds me of a song I love called "Every Season" by Nichole Nordeman. The lyrics take a journey through every season of the year, and when she gets to the part about winter, the music almost comes to a standstill...but as spring approaches, the music builds and the song ends there, with spring as the promise.

She sings,

"and everything in time and under heaven

finally falls asleep

wrapped in blankets white

all creation

shivers underneath

And still I notice You when branches crack

and in my breath on frosted glass

Even now in death you open doors for life to enter

You are Winter....

And everything that's new

has bravely surfaced

teaching us to breathe

and what was frozen through

is newly purposed

turning all things green

So it is with You

and how You make me new

with every season's change

And so it will be, as You are recreating me...

Summer, Autumn,

Winter....

Spring."

I couldn't have said it any better myself.