2015-09-30 - Blanket

Originally Published 2013-07-09

Our family set off in the car north on interstate 81 to pick up our fourth member. Monday is Martin Luther King Junior day and apparently two of our clan are celebrating by going to get their teeth cleaned. This is likely not the most common way of celebrating, but be that as it may they are going.

On our drive going to Harrisonburg we were surrounded by the beautiful blanket of snowfall that covered the ground the previous night. Sometimes snow is a danger, and we considered the fact we may have to delay our plans to go pick up our daughter, but fortunately the snow ended sooner than expected and the sun melted away enough to make the drive.

On that drive, I took some pictures with the camera on my cellphone. Although the pictures weren't as easy to take with the cellphone, it was worth the effort. Taking them got me to thinking about more than just the mountains and the beautiful scenery surrounding me. I considered how the bright snow brought things to light about that scenery, that can often be overlooked.

When we look at the mountains, Blue Ridge in particular in this area, we don't always notice the shapes and forms and how different each mountain is. When snow lands on them and shows us the contours, they become transformed into completely different pieces of land. So are the trees closest to us that are snowcapped and somewhat bent from the weight of the frozen water. And the walking surfaces seem pristine and almost breathtaking, when topped with cool rippling layers of snow. We see the entirety of ordinary things differently when one part of them isn't the same. Things come forward into our view. And so it is when we think about God's light.

When I have read in the Bible, about how light obliterates darkness, it often eluded me exactly what it meant. Sort of like the snow on the mountain, or in the tree or even on the ground, our imperfections become clear. Sometimes people like to take that fact and remind us of them and convince us we are not worthy of love. But God sees it differently. When we choose Him to be in our lives, he doesn't bring our faults to our attention. He simply lays a beautiful white blanket over them and says we're forgiven. That must be why that since being a young girl, I have found the snow on the trees and mountains so beautiful. And I've always been in awe of how it looks. And I am still in awe of how He loves me, and I appreciate the blanket.

Deborah

cfpraydeb@gmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org