Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Beauty through Snowflakes

This morning I had to be in Sioux Falls early. As I listened to Christmas music on the radio while I drove, I moaned out loud when the sky started spitting, and I focused my eyes in the darkness, wondering if I was seeing snow or rain. Soon enough, the splatting on my windshield turned into the tic-tic sound of snow.

I really don't like winter.


I have told people I have three favorite seasons: spring, summer, and fall. In our area, it feels like winter is five months long. I've even gone so far as to playfully suggest to my husband that we should move somewhere more temperate, say somewhere that consistently hovers around 70-80 degrees with 50 degree nights.

Jerome insists that I would miss the change in seasons, that I would miss the beauty of the transition. Sometimes we just agree to disagree. (I still secretly plot to become a snowbird. Where will I spend my winters? Florida? California? Arizona?)

So as I'm driving this morning, the spitting, slushy mess of autumn snow turned to huge, gorgeous snowflakes. And it turned out to be a wonderful reminder from God.

Lately, parts of family life have seemed a little bit like this morning's spitting, wet snow: inconvenient, unpredictable, frustrating. Yet I need to remember that even when behavior and moods start out troubling, the transition can be beautiful. I can choose to whine about the current conditions or look forward to the promise of what is to come.

You know, I used to beg God to speak to me more directly. I struggled to hear Him through the ordinary. Gradually I began to hear Him more through music, and today I hear Him everywhere, even through snowflakes.

Are you waiting to hear God's voice? Are you calling on Him but not hearing an answer? Take a moment to hit the pause button on your busy schedule. Open your eyes, open your ears, and open your heart. You can find Him anywhere, and you can be sure that He has never lost sight of you.