Winter: The Quiet Work of Roots

Stand in a garden in January and you will see very little. Bare branches, sleeping soil, beds that look empty to the eye. But any gardener will tell you: winter is not a dead season. It is a deep one. The roots are working.

Hidden is not the same as idle

We all have winters — seasons where nothing visible is happening. The prayers seem unanswered. The growth we hoped for hasn't come. It is easy to believe that a quiet season is a failed one. But Psalm 1:3 says the tree brings forth fruit in its season. Winter is not fruit season. Winter is root season.

Roots grow in the dark, in the cold, in places no one applauds. So does faith. The unseen disciplines — the whispered prayer, the verse read when you feel nothing, the kindness no one notices — these are the roots that will hold you when the storms of other seasons come.

A practice for the season

Choose one small, hidden discipline for the winter months. Not ten. One. A verse a day. A candle lit with evening prayer. A weekly hour of true rest. Let it be quiet and unimpressive, the way roots are.

And be gentle with yourself. Creation does not demand blossoms from a January branch. Neither does your Father.

"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season." — Psalm 1:3

Stay Rooted,

Heather

LPC, CHC — Founder, Rooted Wellness & Co.