Snow

One of my wintertime favorites is going outside while it is snowing to look up at the sparkling snowflakes as they fall lazily down from the grey sky. I love to stand in the midst of a snowstorm (if I am lucky) and watch the landscape transform into a wintry wonderland. That really makes me want to go out and hit the slopes (I only went up the mountain once... with a mind set on being a pro snowboarder). I can be really miserable sometimes (that is, falling every few feet) but I just love going down a hill with snow whizzing past my face (if I am lucky enough). This kind of experience is very relaxing until I find myself face-full with cold snow.

If I am not 'boarding... after some quality time outside being dazzled by the beauty of the snowflakes, I would return back nippy into my toasty home with a blazing fire in the hearth and make myself a cup of hot chocolate to warm up. Inhaling the soothing aroma of a steaming mint-flavored hot chocolate cup, I would continue to stare outside and watch the flakes fall delicately to the ground. Time didn't existed. Time stretches into infinity. If the snow did not stopped falling to the ground, I could probably just sit at the front of a window and look like I lost myself in that whiteness. All of my worries and concerns... simply ceased to exist. All of my present-day troubles... disappeared. What I experience during those moment is a period of peace and rest.

I don't get that feeling often because snow rarely fall here in Maryland sufficiently during the day for me to stare at for hours, but I can get the same feeling in a different way. I get that when I meditate and talk with God in private. When I isolate myself in a room with no distractions from my parents or the outside world, that is when Father comes to me and talk with me in my heart. My yoke is replaced with His. His yoke is light (feather-light) and all of my troubles fade because I am reminded that He takes care of everything for me. He comes into my heart to caress me and strengthen me. That is the time when I can worship, honor, praise, cry, shout in joy, mourn and give thanks. That is when I really love chapter 23 from the Psalms... they provide a great meditation and prayer tool when I am lacking words:

The Lord is my Shepherd... He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul... As I walk through the valley of shadow and death, I shall fear no evil for thy rod and staff, they comfort me...

Those are one of many promises contained within the Bible. God restores your soul and set all of your anxieties aside. He will comfort you and reassure you that He will never leave nor forsake you... NOT ONCE. He never did to me. That provides great refuge for my heart because whatever happens in my life, I know that God will always be with me side-by-side. God promises you the same thing for all of your past, present and future troubles. Prayer is the most powerful tool that a saint can have... and it is not only reserved for pastors or leaders of the church. You can do it and it is not hard. No fancy jargon or terminology necessary to impress God. Prayer is a meaningful conversation between God and you, so meaningful that once you get so absorbed into it, time ceases to exist.

That is one thing that I love about prayers and that is why I find myself giving thanks to God for everything in my life and for the beauty of his Creation. I try to spend a lot of time with Him in quiet prayer and meditation so that I may cultivate true intimacy and taste his Peace. True and Absolute Peace. This is a great season to be still and watch the snowflakes descend from the sky with our eyes fixed upwardly toward our heavenly Father as a delicate flake falls on our noses.