Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

It's another "snow day" here in Tigard, Oregon. Wow! We certainly don't get these often. The kids are out of their minds with excitement - playing in the snow, sledding through the neighborhood hills, sharing hot chocolate with friends. These are great memory making days!

Yesterday, as I was watching the snow fall to the ground, I was reminded of God's promise to us - that he will wash away our sins and make us white as snow again. Looking out amidst the neighborhood, I saw all the lawns and streets blanketed in the sparkling white. How fresh it looked! How breathtakingly beautiful it was! The things pictures are made of. And I thought....how clean, fresh, and beautiful each one of us are to God. It's mind boggling to try and think in big terms like this. Our human minds, I don't think, can grasp just the vastness of God's love. We can't begin to see the entire picture, like God can. We can't possibly know the things he has in store for us. I can only hope to try and aspire to be the person that God created me to be. I know I fall short. We're told in the Bible that we all fall short. We are all sinners. But that doesn't stop me from longing to be the person, the mother, the wife, the daughter, the friend, that God created me to be.

Currently, Jeff and I are going through some challenging times with our children. They are each in a different stage in life, each having their own struggles. The things our children are going through, reminds us of our own pasts, our own stumbling blocks, and ultimately our own faults. It's hard to look at our faults in our children. Oh, how I think the enemy loves for this to happen - it would be so easy to fall into condemnation and wither. But I know, there is only conviction in Christ not condemnation. I know there is only hope and we are to move forward, not dwelling on the past and not worrying about the future. In my journaling the past few days, I've been reminded that we are to intercede for others. Praying feverently is the best way to help. Sometimes, it's the only way. How hard it is for us to watch our children make mistakes that will negatively affect their lives forever. Yet, we know that all we can do is love them, speak to them with a combination of mercy and salt, and pray that they seek God and God's will. These new trials have brought to me the realization of how much God must grieve when we turn away from him. He guides us, shows us the way, and because he gave us free will, sometimes we turn and take a different path. How painful that must be for him. As my children bring me this kind of pain, I long to strive to never bring this pain to God.