A Winter With Joe Faith

By John Leung

Merry Christmas! Winter can be difficult to bear. It's usually cold and wet, and it gets dark early. Yet, we are excited when December arrives because of Christmas and New Year's--festive occasions that warm our hearts and prompt us to celebrate joyously. Sometimes, we are so overjoyed by our loved ones and gifts that we forget to thank God or draw near to Him daily, or we are busy reflecting on the happy memories to realize that God is waiting to hear our voice and see our face. Joe Faith is no exception. Please join Joe as he prepares for Christmas and rings in the New Year!

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Leung
• Release date: Dec 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781775061212

John Leung

Born in Hong Kong, live in Vancouver, Canada, and Christian since 2006. For my full bio, please read it at http://johnleungstories.ca/about-me/

Book preview

A Winter With Joe Faith

© 2017 by John Leung. All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.  

Visit the author's website at http://johnleungstories.ca/

Please contact John by email: [e-mail]

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Cover photo by Elijah Hail on Unsplash

Book cover designed by Rebeca (https://www.fiverr.com/rebecacovers)

E-book ISBN: 978-1-7750612-1-2

Published in Canada

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Gift of Love

The Meaning of Christmas

A Hopeful New Year

About the Author

Introduction

Hi, I am Joe Faith.  Winter can be difficult to bear.  Most days are cold and wet, and it gets dark early.  It's not safe to walk or drive on slippery roads, and some people experiences depression because of lack of sunlight.  You may wonder: why did God create winter?  Spring, summer, and fall are so fine and enjoyable!  Spring gives hope as flowers bloom.  Summer enables us to enjoy the beach and the longer days.  Fall features cooler weather and falling leaves that beautify the streets.  If only there are only three seasons instead of four...

But wait!  When December rolls around, we are often overjoyed by the coming of Christmas.  Not only we would receive many gifts from family and friends, but we also thank them for their love and care throughout the year with creative gifts of our own.  The cheerful Christmas music and decorations tend to draw us to the malls whenever we could go, and the Christmas movies remind us how festive this occasion can be.  And of course, there's also New Year's Eve, a day to mark the end of one year and a hopeful start of the next.  Suddenly, winter doesn't feel so bad.

Such occasions are filled with gifts, parties, and love, but we often put the most important reasons of the celebrations—the reason that we are even alive to mark these occasions—in the back burner.  Not because we don't care, but we are caught in the moment of happiness.  Sometimes we'd get a bit carried away, thinking that we could always make it up next day.  Other times, we are too busy reminiscing memories that we will never relive.  But no matter how we live each day, we know that God is with us always, and He is waiting patiently for us to acknowledge Him, draw near to Him, and to love Him.

Whether the day is cold and boring or joyful and festive, we can still live closely with God, because He always have ways to remind us that He loves us dearly and we need Him the most.  The following stories are some of my accounts of how I lived the dog days of winter.

The Gift of Love

It snowed again for the third time within two weeks.

Not that Joe didn't like the snow—it wouldn't hurt to watch a snowfall once a while or to feel the softness of fresh snow while walking.  An occasional snowfall was welcoming and refreshing, as opposed to the constant rain.  The snow would brighten the streets and lawns, whereas the colorless raindrops that dampened the sidewalks.  Pools of water was often hard to detect on streets that lacked streetlights until one stepped right into it, soaking the person's shoes and socks.  The water would splash and beat against one's jeans like an unwelcoming cold shower.  No one liked to be sprayed on or to withstand the coldness of dampened socks, neither would Joe.

Not to mention the need to hold an umbrella.  When it rained in winter, it was either too warm to wear gloves or too cold to leave the hands out of the pockets.  Joe would wear mittens, but