This winter, across the entire country, has been everything except predictable. It’s been winter warnings after warnings storm after storm and bone chilling temperatures and winds. 

Snow in the Sandhills of NC is a rarity. Most winters the Sandhills can go years without seeing one flake. This year however, has been back to back weekends of snow. 

I spent the snowy weekend with my parents. My mom urged us to go outside and take pictures. Mind you it’s 10:30 at night and extremely bitter outside. I quickly said it’s too cold but my dad was willing to go out with her. She ran up the stairs (literally) and danced (literally) to her room and got dressed in layers. Her family, snow and pictures are her absolute favorite things, so to have them all in one evening made her so giddy! 

In her excitement and my nonchalant manner, the Spirit spoke. He said, “Remember not to treat miracles and answer prayers as common’.”

See, I expected snow hours ago that day, at 7 am to be exact. The snow didn’t start accumulating until 8 pm. In all honesty, I had lost interest because of the delay and even settled into disappointment. 

So while pictures are being taken outside, I’m reminded that even though delayed (to my expectations) prayers had been answered. God is sovereign, the snow is an experience of God’s creativity and how dare I treat it as ordinary. 

I tell you what, every time I see a snowflake I’ll be reminded of this lesson. A snowflake doesn’t fall half-formed. An intricate process governs its design. It arrives complete, at the appointed moment. Similarly, God may seem slow from our perspective, but His timing produces something whole, purposeful, and uniquely fitted to its moment.

A renewed perspective on a snowflake, an illustration of patience, precision and promise.

See you next week!