The First Snow by Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp

Monday morning my children ran to the door as my husband said "Look what happened last night guys!"  "It snowed, it snowed!  Can we go sledding now?" asked the littlest Jake. "No it's not enough snow for anything, but to look at", I replied.  Somehow Anna managed to find enough snow to create a very small snowball and she aimed it right at Ethan.  Ethan took off running.

The snow just barely covered the ground and bushes but it was beautiful.  There is something about snow that brightens everything, the white pristine color or just that it covers everything but hides nothing. Maybe that's how God loves us.  He covers us in the pristine white of His Unconditional love for us but in doing so He gives us freewill, therefore He hides nothing with His love, the choice is still ours.  His love covering our lives does not weigh us down but brightens our being, lifts us up and makes us beautiful for all the world to see.  However the love of God does not hide the shape of who we are our personalities, the lives we lead or the choices we make.  Just as through the thin covering of the snow you can still see that a bush is still a bush and the ivy is still ivy, physically the only change is the color and a bit of weight.

God chooses to enter our lives in this subtle way daily if we let Him.  He will cover us in His love, through His wisdom, through the love of those around us, the positive messages we hear and, the feeling of His presence around us.  He does not want to change us. He created each one of us.  He wants to love and treasure us and I believe He wants for us to feel His love and use it to brighten others, to spread the love, to care for people the way He does for us.

God sent His only son so that we may have an earthly example of what God wants us to do in our lifetime.  How did Jesus live?  Did he walk up to people and insist that they change their evil ways?  No, he accepted the taxpayers and cared for the prostitutes, he loved everyone, with gentle, tender care.  He did not come into this world with the force of violence or threats of terror.  He taught us how to love and honor God by loving and honoring each other He spelled it all out through parables.  It is all in the gospels, the words that fell from the lips of God.

God does not want to blind you with His love and make you a totally different person.  He wants to love you so that you may truly love others.  He wants to cover you lightly so that you may gain his brightness and pass it on to the world.

Today accept the first snow from God,

May it cover you with His love and eternal Light,

May you share that love with others

As you are

Only better for having been loved by God.

Copyright 2010 Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp