My husband's father passed away due to the effects of a stroke earlier this winter. We were all heartbroken, it felt sudden and way too soon. On the day of his funeral, a heavy snowstorm covered everything with a foot and a half of snow. The next day, we went out to shovel the snow off of our driveway. Every twig, every branch of every tree was outlined by white snow. It hadn't melted yet, or been blown away by the snow. Normally snow does not stay more than a few hours undisturbed on the oak trees' twigs and branches. Temperatures change quickly and the wind comes up, or the sun comes out and melts the snow off the twigs and branches, even though the snow stays on the ground much longer. But this snow stayed on every twig of every tree, for 2-3 days. It was beautiful and unusual. It reminded me that just as the snow covered every detail, God's love for us is over every detail in our lives. Because of what we had just been through, we felt loved and felt hope in seeing the snow.
I had seen snow like this before, it was meaningful to me. It was several years ago, a few days before our daughter's biggest surgery. The surgery ahead of her at that time would be complicated and long, and the details of how it could be done were unclear to me. I was worried about so many things- the surgery and complications, leaving our kids at home, staying at the hospital for an extended time. A few days before the surgery, it snowed heavily. Every detail of every branch was covered with beautiful white snow, and the snow didn't melt for a couple days, which is rare. I felt that in the snow was a personal message for me. Every detail of our daughter's surgery and the next few weeks would be covered by the Lord's love for us, just like the snow was covering every twig of every tree. I hung on to that hope and love because I needed it! And it was true, the surgery went well. Everything that we could have thought of and more was taken care of by the Lord. There were difficult moments, but we could feel the Lord helping us and blessing us.
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| Snow several years ago, a few days before our daughter's surgery |
When I saw the snow on the day of my father-in-law's funeral, especially how it stayed on the branches like it did just before our daughter's surgery, I knew that there was something special about the snow. It was reminding us that Heavenly Father's love covers every detail in our lives. He knows.
Jesus compared himself to a grain of wheat, a seed, that had to die to give others life. "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels- a plentiful harvest of new lives." John 12:20 NLT. It is interesting to see the different translations of this verse, other translations say a grain falls to the ground and dies. The NLT translates it as a kernel of wheat is "planted". This shows our Heavenly Parents and Jesus' loving intentions for us, in his sacrifice.
It is easy to think of Jesus when we see seeds on trees and flowers. I especially love to see how the birds are provided for by the seeds. There is a tree with little red berries in our yard, the berries are the seeds of the tree. The day of the funeral, when it snowed so heavily, the red berries were weighed down with heavy snow that looked like snow cones. Small icicles that looked like teardrops were forming on the berries. The berries reminded me that Jesus carries our burdens, weeps with us, and also offers himself to give us life.
A few weeks later, I was still processing everything that happened when Grandpa passed away, and was out on a walk. I passed some dried-out sunflowers. I thought of the beautiful sunflowers and the changes they had gone through since summer. The bright yellow petals of the sunflowers had fallen off, the stems and leaves had lost their green vibrance, the stems had dried out, and they were standing in 2 feet of snow. It's too bad that the days of summer glory are past for the sunflower, I thought. Then it seemed that the flowers replied, "These are my glory days, I get to feed the little birds in winter!" It surprised me, and made me think of the small and big things we do to take care of each other, it is an honor to do what we can to help others. It also made me think of Jesus, and the price he paid suffering for our sins.
Did Jesus feel that way about his suffering for us? Did he look at his sacrifice like that? In Jesus' hardest moments, he was feeding us, giving us life. Maybe it is in our winter times, our personal difficulties, that Jesus' love shines the brightest, and we are most grateful for his unchanging love for us. Those are the times when we realize how much God is caring for us and aware of every detail in our lives. In our times of darkness, his light shines the brightest. Our hope is in Jesus and his promises.
I hope that whatever difficulties you have in your life, you can see God's love shining just for you. And that you find opportunities to pass his love on.
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