Winter is tough sometimes, ya know? The gloomy, grey days that turn into dark nights at 5 pm from the early winter sunsets. Wake up to dark, leave for work in the dark, come home to dark. We feel like we are living in this constant cycle of blah.

For us, we have this yard that seems unusable in the winter. We look out to ugly colors of green and brown on the ground. When we get out of our cars we hustle to walk up the path to escape the cold. I’m sure for others you pull into your garage, shut the garage door behind you to keep out the cold, and sneak inside to warm up under a blanket. We all long for the sunshine. Not only for the warmth in the air but the stability that comes with the sun.

Sometimes I catch myself falling into that blah cycle of winter. We can’t go outside as often. We don’t see our people as often. We can’t share our porch and daily stories with our favorites. Work stress seems constant.

It’s been a tough year. Social distancing, unexpected loss, heartache, sickness, new “normals” (that I’m fairly certain I’m over). A tough year for everyone in all sorts of ways.

Then…this week at bedtime Brantley told me I’m the best mom ever. And every time I crawl out of his bed Brooks squeezes my face before he kisses me goodnight, and says “I love you my big momma.” I mean, I’d rather not be referred to as big momma, but I’ll take it. Both boys help bring the groceries in and hold the door open for me to walk into the house when my hands are full…without being asked and void of complaint. If I get pinned in a family wrestling match, they free themselves to jump on Sam and give him the ‘ol ground and pound or pretty effective knee slam so I can wiggle out. They argue over who gets to place what out when setting the table for dinner. They hug and tell each other good morning when they wake up (somedays this sweetness only lasts seconds before the not so nice sibling love comes out). Everyday they are pumped to show me what they did at school and daycare or tell me about their day.

…and this, my friends, is exactly the sunshine that will get us through these long winter days. The days where this old yellow farmhouse gets more love and footprints than the land it’s surrounded by. When the real sunshine finally decides to grace us with her presence we will blanket ourselves in all that vitamin D she’s givin’ out and refill our cups once again.

Until then..these young gentlemen, who so kindly love us on all the long winter days, will keep throwing out their sunshine and we are going to soak.it.up. I hope you can find your own winter sunshine, too.☀️