Two sisters, a year apart in middle school, returned from winter break after a week at Disney World with their family. One was down in the dumps and when asked what was wrong, she retorted, “I just came back from a week off school in Florida to this freezing cold weather and homework––that’s what’s wrong.”

I know that winter is hard. I know it’s long in Chicago, and there isn’t much for us to do outside when it’s cold here. I also know that seasonal depression is a real thing.

I took a class in seminary called Theology of Prayer. It was beneficial to explore every passage in Scripture on prayer through the semester.