Well, it's snowing. And it's beautiful.
The small flakes are dancing gracefully from the sky, illuminated by the occasional street light. They sparkle like a million flecks of glitter as they settle into layers on the ground.
The only sound other then my own breath is the steady crunching as I walk in this unexpected wonderland. Surely I am in heaven.
I haven't seen snow in a long time.
Last year, I was celebrating Christmas with a bunch of crazy people in Vietnam. It was beautiful, yet they considered 'cold' to be 65 degrees.
Living in Georgia, my first month of winter left me with bbq's and driving around with the windows down. I would wear light sweaters, looking wistfully at my unused winter coat in the corner.
When I found out I was going to Colorado for Christmas, it's easy to say that I had high hopes! Snow, here I come!
Unfortunately I was met at the airport not only by my best friend, but also a heat wave. The 60's had followed me to Colorado.
Being in Colorado I still wore my winter coat every day – mostly out of spite, this is Colorado for Pete's sake! It should be cold! I found myself looking up at the sky constantly.
That's when I heard that a cold front was coming in. I spent the better part of an hour looking up weather forecasts, and watching the news. The chance of it snowing in loveland didn't look so great, but I never gave up hope.
I woke up today to a grey and promising sky. All day long I checked the windows, and asked everyone who came in the house if it was snowing. No luck.
Then, finally, unbelievably, it started snowing!
Even though it was 11 o'clock at night and it was freezing outside, I grabbed my jacket and ran to the door.
It was silent, and i was surrounded by my snow.
I started walking with no destination in mind, and began prasing The Lord. I thanked him for the snow, and for my family. I thanked him for good food, good friends, and the snow. I thanked him for letting me come to Colorado for the holidays, and of course for the snow – I was supper thankful for the snow.
That's when The Lord told me that he made it snow for me.
I snorted in response.
How self centered would you have to be to believe that God would create an entire wether formation just for you. My mama taught me that the world does not revolve around me thankyouverymuch.
Then The Lord asked me a question.
If a carpenter created a beautiful creation for his wife, spending hours and hours adding mesmerizing details, would it not be a gift he created just for her? Even if the carpenter didn't plant the seed, nurture the sprouts, or chop down trees, the gift was still made by him especially for her.
He told me that no, the entire storm that crossed many states was not for me. Not even the part of the storm that was in Colorado. But the snow that was falling in my town, on my block, in My hair, was just for me.
Our God is such an intimate God. He loves us so extravagantly. He pours blessings on top of blessings out upon us for no other reason then to make us smile, or make us laugh. He knows us; he loves us; he gives us good gifts.
That unbelievable love today looked like an incredibly intimate moment between just me and God, the snow dancing magically around me. Him telling me that I was worth an entire snowstorm.
That's what I call extravagant love.
