A Big Storm

“Snow is falling outside and all is peaceful and still. In such moments it is possible to believe that the world could still be good.”                                                                      ― Richard Paul Evans, Grace
      

                                                          
Today is my birthday, and I got the greatest birthday present! A blizzard. Now I know many of you think I'm crazy, but, that's ok. Sunshine and blue skies. Warm temperatures and gentle breezes. Ocean and swimming pools.

I love mountains and streams, and flowers in the valley. And a spring day is a delight. But a snow storm has its own beauty uncomparable in my eyes.

When I was a child, playing in the snow was fun. School was out. A happy time building snowman and snow castles. Snowball fights.

When I was a young woman, snow meant a free day from work. An unexpected day on the calendar to do whatever I wanted. Be lazy. Drink hot chocolate.

“Close your eyes. Hear the silent snow. Listen to your soul speak.”
― A.D. Posey

And over the years snow has an even more special attraction. It's beauty. It's sound. The description God uses to tell me my sins are as white as snow.



I've shared this poem before, but I love to read it again and again. It reminds me of a snowstorm that arrived without notice. I awoke one morning to find a blizzard outside. No warning from the weather station. I opened my back door, and then I heard it. Snow. This is how it sounded to me:

 "When I opened the back door I heard it

Snow

I was amazed at the sound

A whisper different from wind

Yet, precise; like nothing else I've ever heard

Snow falling from the heavens

My heart rested and listened

I couldn't keep away from my back door

I heard snow falling and thanked God."

Feburary 16, 2003

    Sunday morning, 7 a.m.

That image always comes up in my mind when I read God's Word about snow. Every time I ask God to forgive my sin, my mind travels to me opening the back door and seeing the blizzard in all it's glory.

There's a hymn that shares similar thoughts.

White As Snow

by Jon Foreman

"Have mercy on me, oh God  According to Your unfailing love
According to Your great compassion  Blot out my transgressions

Would You create in me a clean heart  Oh God
Restore in me  The joy of Your salvation

The sacrifices of our God  Are a broken and contrite heart
Against you and you alone have I sinned

Would You create in me a clean heart  Oh God
Restore in me  The joy of Your salvation

Wash me white as snow  And I will be made whole
Wash me white as snow

Would You create in me a clean heart  Oh God
Restore in me  The joy of Your salvation"

Isaiah 1:18

"Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the LORD, 'Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land'"

If you're in the Northeast and buried under a ton of snow, take a few minutes to look at it through God's eyes. Pure. White. Clean. Sparkling. Now imagine, that's how God see's you after He washes you white as snow.

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”     ― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

Thank you friends for the cards and good wishes. The joy of being a friend. And, happy birthday to me!