Finding the hidden beauty........

This has been a long and hard winter.  When we had yet another "winter storm warning" this week,  all we could do was sigh.  Most people didn't even pay any attention to it.  It was late on Tuesday afternoon before I noticed that dreaded "red stripe" over the weather forecast. Then when I saw that they were actually saying 4-6", well, you had to take it a little more seriously.  I went to bed thinking that we actually might dodge the bullet.  But, alas, when we awoke on Wednesday morning, we had a good 6" of snow.  Maybe a bit more.  And it was the wet, heavy, icky, sticky stuff.  I was pretty cold and wet by the time I got my car cleared off.  And, thanks to the time change this week (I mean, really, who thought it would be a good idea to change to daylight savings time when we are still in the middle of winter???), it was pitch dark on my way to work.  It was a long, long drive to work.  A trip that took me about 40 minutes and that is a lot for 6 miles.  Yes, 6 miles.  Nothing had been plowed.  There were ruts and ice and it was anybody's guess where the lane markings were.  So I can assure you that I did NOT enjoy the snow that morning.

But then the sun came out.  And it was really the most amazingly beautiful snow that we have had this entire winter.  

 

 

 

Ken actually went out, right after work and got some incredible shots of the snow in the Morton Arboretum.   These are just a couple of my favorites.   Wow! 

 

Sometimes, isn't our life like this?   We are in a really messy, dark, icky, sticky place and then the sun comes out and we can start to see the beauty around us.  Sometimes even the stuff that CAUSED the mess we are in, is part of the very nice picture.  The thing is, on this morning when I was stuck in that traffic and slipping around on the roads, I didn't notice how the snow was sticking to the trees.  I missed that there were ice crystals around some of the branches and it almost looked like crystals hanging on the trees.  It wasn't until the sun came out that you could see and appreciate the wonder of this snow.   We need THE SON - Jesus to come into all of the junk in our daily life for us to find the hidden things.  When we begin to look at our problems and our troubles through the SON, we can see the amazing picture that is being painted.  It is a picture of the true plan and destiny for us.  All of the troubles and the problems and difficulties become something very different, when the truth of Jesus and the light of the Holy Spirit shines on them.  Those troubles don't go away, the problems and difficulties are still there.  But our eyes can be opened to see through the muck and find the beauty that is there.  We still had 6 lousy inches of snow......again....... on top of the piles of snow that have NOT melted yet.  There was still ice on the roads and ruts and slush.  But with my eyes looking UP, it was beautiful!

 

Jesus, thank you for the beauty that you have planned in your creation.   Holy Spirit, thank you for your reminder to look up and see the picture you painted with snow.  What an amazing wonder with the sun shining on it.  Thank you for Ken and his ability to capture these images to help us all to remember to see the hidden beauty.  Amen