Snowflakes

Add my love for winter to my love for photography and you get me, in my Christmas jammies and slippers, standing on the frozen grass camera in hand on the first day that it snowed last winter. I had created kind of a make shift macro lens for my camera and was determined to get some pictures of the snowflakes. To say that I was amazed with what I found lying on the grass would be an understatement. After looking through the viewfinder at the first snowflake it would be hard to tell if I was shaking because it was freezing outside and i was extremely underdressed, but apparently I didn’t think shoes were necessary, or if I was shaking at the amazement of our God’s beautiful creation.

If you think about it snow creates chaos. Blizzards are cold and cause car accidents and once we hit January the fact that snow is horrible becomes all anyone can talk about. But I believe the truth is we are just blind. Our eyes are too weak to even understand because you pick up a camera which allows us to see clearly and you find yourself staring at something so beautiful and perfectly hand crafted that you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the goodness of the Lord. You can’t help but feel loved and appreciated because if He took the time to put so much love and detail into something as microscopic as a snowflake you can only imagine what is He doing in us.

Something so hated and seen as a horrible thing is beautiful, and brings so much glory to our Father and Creator. When I think about this my mind immediately goes to all of the things in life that cause what seems like unnecessary chaos. For me its a chronic illness.

The things I have learned through my medical problems are invaluable to me. This illness isn’t a crutch, it’s a reminder every minute of the day to rely on the Lords strength and not my own. granted sometimes its an annoying reminder but hey I can’t be picky. Through this I have seen the Lord’s faithfulness in times of trial, experienced the peace of his presence, and learned the importance of staying in constant union with Him. I have watched His protective hand come up in unexpected ways. I have seen His grace and blessings show up in every area of my life. I have been apart of the occasion icu hospital room High School Musical soundtrack dance party, and I have laughed so hard with my sisters in a hospital bed that we all have had eye burns due to a combination of tears and mascara. As I watch these things happen and know that it all thanks to the presence of the Lord.

Call me corny but I now think of my illness (or any trial in life) as a snowflake. The idea that it is a horrible thing is a lie because I am just to blind to see the truth. Through faith, or a camera so to speak I can see that it is beautiful and detailed and carefully crafted to bring glory to my Father. Understanding this day to day will always be a struggle and there are times where I am overcome with frustration but for the most part I try focus on the gifts that He has given me, because they are abundant, and I try to focus on living not by what my weak eyes see, but by faith in the Lord and His goodness and love.

Though I have always loved winter it became even more special to me in the past two years. The post that you just read is something I wrote for my senior presentation in high school. I was in the middle of snowstorm at that point in my life and it felt like the wind would never stop and the snowflakes would never melt. It took one simple winter morning to help me more clearly understand that my perspective was wrong. Again, that is not to say it doesn’t get frusterating at times but I am so grateful to say now that the snow was definitely hand crafted. Each flake was shaping my life today, and continues to shape my tomorrow. I am in awe and wonder of the snow, and now the spring.