Tag Archive | snow

Don’t let your storms keep you from your Savior.

Mar21

Last week brought several inches of pure white snow that blanketed our back yard in a lovely display. It caught my attention one afternoon while on my way to the kitchen. I stopped to take it in and soon my daughter joined me. We gazed out our large window at the picturesque site and to our amazement a red fox walked out from the woods and into our back yard. He slowly walked across the yard pausing only for a second to look our way and then, just as quickly as he appeared, ran across the yard and was gone. My youngest and I couldn’t believe what we had witnessed. But had we not been looking, we never would have seen it.

I couldn’t help but think of how God is always right before me, but too often I’m just too busy to take the time to stop and look. How many times have I missed him in the eyes of the sweet children I work around? How often have I missed him working in the lives of friends and family because I’m too wrapped up in the details and stressors of my own life to take the time and ask how theirs is?

Peter saw him (Matthew 14:22-32). When the angry waves rocked that boat, Peter was certain it was Jesus who stood before him. He didn’t have to be asked twice. He jumped out, felt the water beneath his feet but stood up anyway. His eyes were locked on his friend. The one he had watched catch the fish the day there wasn’t any (Luke 5:8). The one who had cleansed the lepers (Matthew 8:3), cast out the demons (Matthew 8:32), and made the lame walk (Matthew 9:6). The same one who even healed Peter’s own mother-in-law (Matthew 8:15). The one who had all authority and power and now stood before him in the middle of the raging sea. Peter’s eyes were open and he was looking and as long as he looked, the howling wind and waves didn’t matter.

But Peter is too much like us and that’s why we love him. Like we so often do, Peter quit looking. He let what was going on around him be more important than who was standing before him. And when we let anything take the place of Jesus, we begin to sink.

Don’t look away. Don’t let whatever it is in your life wanting to disrupt you be more important than looking at the one who died for you.

Don’t let your storms keep you from your Savior.

by Paula Harrington @ www.forthright.net

White Gold

Feb17

****New “deeper insights” post on abortion by Beth Johnson

 

You might not look at snow as a treasure. I have had a wonderful time admiring pictures from all over the country featuring snowy landscapes, snowmen, winter sports, and snow angels.

Kids love it, almost without exception. My friend Marty in Colorado calls it “white gold,” in reference to its usefulness as a mild fertilizer. In fact, snow does have value in helping plants grow. In addition to the obvious moisture, it also puts nitrogen into the soil at a slower and more beneficial rate than rain does. It has often been called “the poor man’s fertilizer.”

Another boon to the gardener is the insulating properties of snow. Especially when mulch is not applied deeply, snow can prevent the constant freezing and thawing that could cause roots to be heaved up out of the soil, killing or severely harming plants. Shouldn’t we call snow the “poor man’s mulch,” too?

The fluffy white stuff also can protect newly emerging plants from subzero temperatures and drying winds.

There are so many reasons for the gardener to love the snow. I love it simply because it is so breathtakingly pretty! Sure, I’ve had my share of injuries from slipping, and I’ve skidded my classic VW Beetle in a snowy ditch; but I still have to admire the beauty of the white wonderfulness.

Maybe that’s why I was just a little awe-struck when a friend shared the verse from Job 38:22; “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail?” (NASB)

I’ve read the verse many, many times. It is part of God’s somewhat gentle rebuke to Job for doubting him. But it never seemed to move me as much as it did in the middle of seeing his majesties of snow displayed on such a grand scale! Many states are getting record snows, and we had just gotten about an inch the night before – which sadly melted in the morning.

Storehouses. Picture that! Whether or not you love snow as I do, you have to stand in awe that the Lord could stockpile such a thing as snow. I guess he has clouds laid out like Monopoly houses or like armies in a game of Risk. Maybe not. But he has storehouses! He said so. Releasing these storehouses can cripple a city, leaving it without power or transportation. It can also convert eyesores into art.

He knows exactly where he is about to put each six-sided crystallized flake as he forms it. Now, that is power! This is the God that we serve.

–by Christine Berglund @ www.forthright.net