All Covered in White

Today I was surprised to see the snow fall on the ground. The first thing Samantha said to me this morning was, “Finally, winter is here!” In looking out the window early this morning, I was struck by the silence and calm that the snow brings to the landscape. We took full advantage of the morning by getting the kids up and ready to go outside to experience play in the snow. After several unsuccessful attempts to get Lydia’s winter gear on (esp. her boots), we walked out onto our back porch to experience the snow.

I don’t know if you are like me, but there is something about the snow that draws me outside into it. Maybe its because I grew up in the north, and I have a ton of memories about playing in the snow. Maybe its because snow is so rare these days in our part of NC. Either way, I have to go out in it. I love to feel its coolness to the touch of my skin. To reach down in the snow and create a snowball (which Samantha is an expert at I might add), is so natural. Our backyard just seemed to invite us to come and play as we were the first to make any footprints in the pristine snow.

In reflecting on this sight of new fallen snow in our backyard, I am reminded of a similar invitation in Isaiah:

“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
(Is. 1:18, NIV)

To me, God’s grace is like my backyard – inviting me to come and play. Just as the fresh snow allows me to make new footprints, so does God’s grace allow me to begin again after wandering away from him. This morning’s scene of fresh snow covering my yard was again a reminder of the power of God’s work in transforming our lives. It is a reminder that confessing my sin to the Lord drastically changes the landscape of my soul. This change leads me to say,”Finally, grace is here!”

Pray with me that we would let God’s reason win out so that our sins might be transformed from the color scarlet to that of white – white as snow.