When Gratitude Comes in a Wintry Snow

“Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.”
― Mary Oliver

There is a clear and pure science behind the phenomenon of snow. It begins as a fragment of dust floating within a cloud and after a quite intricate process of crystallization, becomes a snowflake — purely unique to itself.

I am respectful of the fact that there are more people out there who find snow a horrible inconvenience. I know many who detest the mere idea of the white stuff.

I am not one of those people. Growing up in the mid-west provided me with ample opportunities to play in the snow. I have so many memories of sledding, building snowmen, forts and snowball fights that I could fill a book. As a teenager, I caught the skiing bug. Now, I will never win any records or medals for my downward sloping progressions; in fact, I am quite unbalanced and a frequent visitor to the snow in a face first position. Regardless of the lack of my graces and abilities, I love it.

So, while I respectfully accept someone’s disgruntled outlook on snow, I will choose to quietly disagree.

I am grateful for nature’s own version of a “frozen concoction”.

I often wonder what God was thinking when he decided that snow was a good idea.

Oh, I’m sure he anticipated the responses he might get — power outages, driving hazards, being snowed in….the list goes on.

Despite these objections to the snow, I believe there is a lesson to be learned from a slight paradigm shift in our perspectives.

This past week, 73 million Americans were under some type of winter weather advisory, watch or warning. Millions were anticipating the icy grip of Winter Storm Jonah. (I wonder if there was a hidden meaning to the name Jonah, considering the Biblical character was swallowed by an enormous whale much like the eastern half of the US would be swallowed by the enormity of this storm? Hmmmmm….just a thought).

Schools were cancelled….grocery store aisles were left bear and lines to the check-out were 10 people deep…..bags of salt and snow shovels were flying off the shelves of hardware stores…..meteorologists were using words like “catastrophic” and “colossal” to communicate the dangerous conditions that would be falling on much of the eastern part of the country.

There were skeptics (ahem…..David).

There were believers (ahem…me).

There were many more that were in-between.

Regardless of where you fell on the belief chart, we all knew it was coming in some form or fashion.

So we waited.

The result? Well, let me share the answer to that question with a few pictures that Dave and I took.

These photos only capture a portion of the beauty that has fallen down on east Tennessee in the last couple of days. It is breathtaking.

In spite of the inconveniences, schedule cancellations, and the such, I think there is a lot that God would like for us to take away from these rare moments of a winter snow. So, let’s turn our attention in that direction.

Let’s look for gratitude in the mere beauty of a landscape that is blanketed with more unique snowflakes than we have a number system to count. It is as if God’s hands have carefully held a paintbrush and each brush stroke is intentionally placed on every object it encounters.

Let’s look for gratitude in the quiet of our world.

Let’s look for gratitude in spending time with our family and friends — sometimes in closer proximity than we would normally like; but it is a gift to be with one another all the same.

Let’s look for gratitude in the playful opportunities that this winter wonderland gives us. If your heart needs a reminder, go outside and create a snowman.

Let’s look for gratitude in just slowing down and taking a few days to live unhurried. So much of our everyday lives is spent rushing from one place or appointment to another. We live so much of our life on a continuous conveyor belt of sorts where we have no time to sit and enjoy the people around us.

So, be still.

Despite the inconveniences of this snowy world, there is so much beauty to behold and warmth inside our homes and between each one of us. Sometimes God decides that a little piece of the world needs to slow down, get still and enjoy the scenery. Sometimes, he just wants our attention.

Let me leave you with this quote:

“I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happened.”
― Rachel Cohn, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dar