It Snowed Today!

Snow might not be big news where you live, but here in eastern North Carolina, anything more than a dusting is a rare occurrence. The last big snow I remember was seven years ago. But guess what? It snowed today! We received four inches, five inches, or eight inches, depending on who you ask.

Some of my friends don’t care for snow. They’ve moved here from the mountains or Chicago or Alaska and they’ve seen enough. I get that. But most of us locals love a good southern snow. Our friends from the north make fun of us for closing everything down at the first snowflake. But hey, we’ve got things to do. We need to make a last minute run to the grocery store for milk and bread. Then we stop on the way home at the local fuel mart for gas. We always feel better if our gas gauge is on F, even though most of us don’t know how to drive in the snow and have no intention of going out.

Nope, we stay home. We take walks, build snowmen, eat snow cream, make snow angels. Then we come inside, drink hot chocolate with marshmallows, and wonder if the snow will still be around tomorrow.

A snowy walk is my personal favorite. I love the crunch of each step, the sting of cold air, the sparkle of sun through icicles, the color of cardinals and warblers and chickadees hopping onto our bird feeder. And I love watching our twelve-year-old dog pretend he’s a puppy again as he plays in the drifts.

I think God loves snow, too. After all, He created it. And He used snow in one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. Consider Isaiah 1:18: “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow…” Through what Jesus did for us at the cross, we are no longer stained by the scarlet of our sin. We are forgiven and cleansed when we trust Him. And our hearts in His sight become as white as snow.

We might be able to turn white into scarlet (I did that with a load of my husband’s clothes when we were first married), but only God can turn scarlet to white. So the next time you look outside and say “It snowed today!” remember the truth, wonder, and mercy of His loving forgiveness.