Praise the Lord for the Joys of Winter

 

                                                                    Our Sweeties at Winter Play

 

1.Praise the Lord for the joys of winter,

praise the Lord for a world transformed,  

 

praise the Lord for the trees and houses adorned. 

Praise the Lord for snowy angels, praise the Lord for the chance to play

praise the Lord for this  heavenly display.

Praise the Lord for our children’s laughter,

praise the Lord for their sleds on hills, 

praise the Lord for their rosy cheeks, for tumbles and for spills.

Praise the Lord for the game of hockey, blades on ice let us fly with ease, 

gifts of sport made to cheer us and to please.

Winter Joys lyrics Shirley Porter, tune: Natalie Sleeth's hymn 

Praise the Lord with the Sound of Trumpet (Voices United 245) 

 During the first eleven days of November we basked in unseasonably warm weather, even though we knew that it was ominous, likely an indication of global heating. This is Canada, after all, and temperatures in the mid to high teens Celsius are not the norm in our neck of the woods.We paddled and cycled and one morning we sat on the deck for our morning coffee. On Remembrance Day we cycled to the cenotaph. 

The next ten days have seen a marked drop in temperatures and on Friday we woke up to the inevitable -- snow. The precipitation was heavier in some parts of Southern Ontario than others but thank God we didn't experience the Snowmaggedon of New York State, immediately to the south of us. 

It's strange, really. We weren't looking forward to snow but our attitude changed as soon as we saw it. There is something quite beautiful about falling snow. When I was out shovelling the driveway on Sunday morning the blue of the sky, the blues of the snow itself, and the crescent moon were wonders to behold. 

It seem that kids and critters are better able to receive the gift. We saw videos of our grandchildren playing outside, including the two and a half year old who really has no recollection of previous winters. They were delighted and so were we. 

Do you remember my musing last year about the lack of hymns which genuinely celebrate Winter and its manifold pleasures? Blog reader, church musician, and sister-in-law Shirley wrote lyrics for the tune I suggested as being joyful enough to do the playful aspect of the season justice. She captured it all so well, so here it is again.

Bye the bye, I won Snow Tire Roulette when my winter tires were installed on Friday, just in the nick of time. Praise the Creator for Winter! (we'll talk again in mid-February.)  

2. Praise the Lord for the fun of snow forts, purple shadows at day’s end, 

joys of winter help our spirits mend.

Praise the Lord for our walks through woodlands,

creatures leave their footprints there,

 God’s creation marks the snow with care.

Praise the Lord for the squeak of footsteps on the freshly fallen snow, 

Praise the Lord for windows etched with frosty white tableau.

Praise the Lord for the time of winter, time to sing and time to play,

Praise the Lord every season, every day!