One of the best things about living in Tokyo is the winter blossoms. The earliest blooms pop up pink and white as you turn the page of the calendar to February. Throughout the month you see them decorating the brown, bare branches and the clear, winter sky. These plum blossoms may temp you to think that spring has come, but the frozen nights quickly remind you there is still at least another month of kerosene heaters and electric blankets. Somehow these delicate blossoms brave the frozen nights and even occasional the dusting of snow. They remind me how I want to be. Brave and beautiful. Enduring through the difficult "winter" seasons of life, tough and tenacious. Yet undeniably reflecting the graceful and exquisite Hand of God, drawing others to gaze on His Handiwork as I reflect His beauty.
