PRAIRIE SNOWY WONDERS

Snow is wondrous! Despite the fact that I'm a bit "over the hill," I still rejoice in the snowy wonderland we call winter. Most folks my age are complainin' about the cold and how it does havoc on the aches and pains of their youth.




I, on the other hand, revel in Jack Frost's world. Icicles, crunchy goodness underfoot, powder sugar snow, and then there's the brightness that lights up our world both day and night. The whiteness shines its sparkling face upward in stark contrast to the blackness of the night sky.



As the frosty blanket covers the landscape, it chills the air and somehow calms the winds that we experience so much here on the prairie. Now, I don't mean it totally negates the winds, but somehow it brings an uncanny peace; a shivery blessing of purity and silence all packaged neatly together.


What can we learn from the snow? As I ponder my routine snowy treks to the barn to care for my horses, I think on the deep breaths of frigid air that pierce the inner depths of my fragile lungs and then leaves me gasping for breath--reminding me I'm alive in God's kingdom. Watching that breath escape in visible smoke, I revel in the miracles that are my lungs—God-designed and remarkably functional.

I know it's probably an insignificant thing to think about, but there you have it. I ponder a lot of God's little details and then make them into huge lessons for myself.



It seems sometimes that I feel most alive in the winter because the frosty air and snowy roads stretch my capabilities - they challenge me to work harder at life. And, then I truly feel alive!




So, my advice - for what it's worth - Get yourself outside and into the cold. Take a snowy walk, lick an icicle, go sledding down a hill (wwwwwhhhheeeee!), breathe in & breathe out and watch the smoke rise, experience that awesome tingling feeling of frozen toes and fingers that come just before frostbite, and above all revel in the silence and listen to the voice of God in His snowy kingdom.