Welcome to this wintery blog carnival.
We’re going to try something a little different this week…
The link widget is there as normal but a lot of you use twitter and put links to your posts on twitter, too.
What I’d like you to do, in addition to using the widget, is put the hashtag #owaat in any tweets about the carnival. Then, for the next couple of days, Paper.li will generate an online newspaper highlighting all of our carnival posts…. and we can see how it works out.
So, here’s the link widget… let’s have a great carnival!
This week’s One Word at a Time is: Winter
And here’s my offering….
How Can You Not Like Winter?
I LOVE winter.
Love it.
Love it, love it, love it!
I love snow and I love curling up in front of open fires with a cup of hot chocolate.
I love the fresh, crisp air.
I love the rain.
I love it all!
I just wish we lived somewhere where we got lots and lots of snow. I’d love to get snowed in. There’s not much better than waking up in the morning and seeing a fresh, clean blanket of snow covering as far as the eye can see.
But then, I’ve never had to live with snow like that. The occasional vacation when I was little maybe but nothing that ever seriously disrupted my life.
Which is why I can’t understand why people don’t like snow and REALLY don’t like winter.
It’s totally beyond me why you would ever wish away the winter months… I love summer too but I enjoy winter whilst I can.
As I was thinking about all of your strange folk who don’t like winter, I started thinking about a blog I helped build for Karen Zacharias.
The blog is called All The Church Ladies and the concept behind it is awesome, so I totally recommend you dropping by.
The background and header image though are, let’s say, not my style.
Really, pink and flowery just isn’t my thing.
Karen, on the other hand, loves it.
I had to ask her a few times, “Are you SURE you’re happy with it?” Before I could let it go and stop trying to make it look a little… nicer.
That’s kind of the point though. We’re all different.
Some of us love winter. Some of us… don’t.
Some of us love pink, old-timer, flowery wallpaper… some of us are me.
Some of us love poetry… others of us don’t understand it at all.
Some of us love chocolate… others of us don’t know how good life can be.
Some people love the Steelers, some people love the Packers.. and others of us are wondering if we can even bring ourselves to watch those two teams play in the Superbowl this year.
and that’s OK.
We don’t have to all love the same things. The world would be a boring place if we did.
What I’d like you to go away remembering though is that it’s not wrong to like different things (generally) and all of us have prejudices against people who don’t like some of the things we like.
This winter, whether you love it or hate it, let’s all try to overcome our prejudices and remember that God made us all unique – and he made us just the way he wanted us to be.
…. even the people who like tuna and corn on their pizza {shudder}.
i love winter too….in hawaii.
You’d be eating your “I love winter” words here at my house. And without chocolate. Carry on.
Are the people who like tuna and corn on their pizza pregnant, perhaps?
I’m with you though, Peter. I like variety. It’s fun to hang out with like-minded people, but I appreciate people who can make me see things differently and appreciate things I hadn’t seen before. It’s pretty awesome actually.
Discordant voices make the best sort of community and yes, it’s really pink and flowery and not necessarily like me at all but very much like Church Ladies..which is, after all, a certain nostalgic feel I was aiming for. And I think we achieved. Thank you, Petah.
Here in California we enjoy each season, spring, summer, fall and winter. In life there are also seasons, and the winter season is difficult to accept at times. However even in Winter there are ministries that can and should be participated in to bless others.
I’m growing to appreciate variety more and more as I grow up. And I like to see it as various notes of harmony, rather than discord. But that’s just me. 😉
Snow is great so long as you don’t have to drive in it in the D.C. area, which has never learned to cope with amounts small or large.
There is nothing quite like the feeling when knowing a big winter storm is on its way and going to dump a ton of snow. There just something right about it.
Nice list of posts here, Peter. Thanks for being the inspiration!
btw, I like any NFL team who beats the Steelers (did I just say that?!?)
I like snow. I don’t like the Packers. I like chocolate.
So there.
Pppthww!
I don’t think the site is overtly flowery. And I’m with Karen–you did a great job on that site.
Winter? Meh…
I never thought I’d hear my daughter say, “I’m so tired of snow!” We live in Alabama and have actually gotten two (!) great snows this year (for us). But because everything shuts down, including her activities, she started getting bummed about it.
And tomorrow she’s supposed to get her drivers’ license, unless we get MORE snow. I’m glad it’s in God’s hands. 🙂
Thanks for encouraging us to set aside our prejudices, and for hosting us!
I’m learning to love all seasons. I’m learning to see with new eyes.
Here in Chicago, the winter snow and ice keep the elderly and infirm cooped in for long periods of time, and for their sake, I am NOT a fan…
I love your heart, Peter. You are so consistent to want to make room at the table for everyone.
And I totally understand your romanticization of winter. I do the same when I imagine living in Bible times. Reality might strip away the images we hold dear. But if you figure out a way to time travel me back to Israel, I’ll leave you my winter house in Michigan, complete with wood stove, acres of snow unblemished by sunlight, and a thermometer that sticks in the sub-freezing range.
PS ~ And I spoke in Kalamazoo yesterday. There really is such a place, still.
Otherwise fondly known as K-Zoo. 🙂
I just have to love my slow dial-up internet – my link won’t link again.. but here it is http://hisfirefly.blogspot.com/2011/01/space-between.html
I am slow, no matter what the season it seems.
Hey Peter – the guest room is ready for you and all the snow you can handle – assuming the roads are passable and you can get here 🙂 but tuna on the pizza? I’ve got to draw the line…
All The Church Ladies started following me on Twitter today. I looked at their blog site and thought, pretty cool. I should have known who was involved.
Good post, Peter.
You name some of my favorites, Peter. Thank you so much for hosting this groovy party! *sigh* I’m the late-comer again. Something about the winter slows me down :). That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 🙂
Talking about liking different things, I don’t know if I like snow. Seriously, I’ve never seen it up close. Just on photos, movies, etc. So when I get a chance to see it, I’ll let you know if I do like it or not.
I don’t like rain, tough. I know it is necessary, but I’ve never liked it. And lately we’ve been having a lot of floods here in Brazil, with lots and lots of people losing their homes and their loved ones. That didn’t help me getting to like rain any better.
BTW, Laura, I beat you to being the late-comer this time 😉