Snow Feathers

For several mornings as I began my days in this new place of winter’s bitter cold, some admitted frustration and agitation built up inside of me.  I am not a big fan of cold weather, I like nature, beauty and I like being outdoors.  Anyone that knows me knows this to be true.   I was and still am having a very hard time finding beauty and my happy place in this new town but I keep thinking about how I have written and spoken that beauty can be found anywhere if you just look hard enough.  Did I really say that and mean it?  Did I mean that hypothetically?  I had thought about that comment many times as I questioned my ability to see beauty and be internally happy despite my external conditions.  So, I thought some more…I don’t think that beauty has to be seen in order to feel happy; however, I believe that there has to be an ability to find it through your senses.  It is a sort of essence in our being, the ability to see, touch, feel and experience beauty, resulting in happiness.  I feel that it comes from within us and what we are capable of recognizing and able to enjoy given our surroundings too.  It is both seen and unseen like, the sweet expression on someone’s face, a little child’s hand or an elderly person, any person reaching out for your touch, the wind brushing your face or the visual of a sunrise, flower or snow covered earth, the sound of laughter or scent of something that carries you away and the knowledge that God loves you!   Whether you are with someone or not, in a place filled with people or all alone, I believe that we have to see beauty with our senses to be happy so then I ask myself; could I be happy if I could not see, touch, hear or smell?  If I could only feel with my heart so to speak, would that be enough?   I’m still a work in progress on that thought even though I do believe that is what I should be able to do.  I have been so spoiled to live in such an amazingly beautiful place, Sewanee, Tennessee with all of my senses intact.  Beauty abounds here.  And I feel that I have been blessed all of my life to be surrounded by beauty (beautiful places, beautiful people a sort of sensory overload) resulting in a happy feeling.  And in my moment of supposed “anguish” (not really),  call me crazy but in an instant God revealed these amazing “snow feathers” as I call them and like a child that had just discovered something new I was all excited, intrigued and in awe of these wonderfully complex formations.  I said, thank you God, for such a discovery in this moment of “I hate this place, there is nowhere to walk and nothing to see” feeling that was permeating my every thought.   Beauty enters your heart and mind through your senses and as I see God’s marvelous workmanship I am reminded that, “For since the creation of the world God’s INVISIBLE qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” Romans 1:20  I cannot explain a unique, amazing or beautiful event without God.  No matter where I look I see God’s hand or footprints.  Simply looking around us is not enough though.  But God sure reminded me of His beauty and instilled in me a moment of happiness as I captured a few novice photo shots that do not do justice to His fast melting creations.  And in that moment I felt that the “snow feathers” were there that morning just for me to see and appreciate and be reminded of his presence! I just wanted to share these “snow feathers” with others while God reminds me that spring is just around the corner when I can be outdoors more and get my hands in the dirt and plant some flowers!