Living in Ottawa, we are blessed to enjoy all four seasons during the year.
Each one presents nature’s beauty and offers ample opportunity to appreciate God’s magnificent creation.
Take, for example, winter. Despite its sometimes brutally cold weather and frustrating frequency of having to shovel after snowfall, our taste of Canadian winter can provide many pleasant experiences before we transition to spring.
Building a snowman, cross-country skiing through forest trails and a cup of hot chocolate after skating at an outdoor rink are just some of the fun activities we can do with the white stuff on the ground.
Not long ago, I was outside for my lunchtime supervision at school on a day when the snow was ideal for making snowballs.
While circulating around the yard, I would occasionally grab a clump of snow and start packing it in my hands.
It was after a few times of doing this that I began to form some serious snowballs.
I had come to perfect the size and circular form and was concentrating on attaining just the right degree of smoothness.
It was at that point I realized how snowballs connected with our Creator.
Just as the children’s song teaches, God holds the whole world in His hands, keeping us all close to Him and united with one another – much like each unique snowflake is brought together to make a beautiful snowball.
But we should also remember that, just as He holds us in His palm, our Lord shapes us in His image – perfect beings made to reflect God’s unconditional love and everlasting presence to society. (Genesis 1:27 & 2 Corinthians 3:18)
Just as we are the work of His hands, like clay for a potter, God rounds off all of our rough edges so that we can be made smooth just like a snowball.
Each day whenever we sin, God’s bountiful grace, helpful virtues and endless forgiveness are all available to us and offered freely, encouraging us to be our best as He made us.
But just as we cannot ignore the existence of sin, we cannot disregard the temptation to throw snowballs, as students outside were urging me to do during my supervision duty.
Not surprisingly, our school forbids the throwing of snowballs for safety reasons.
Similarly, we can both imagine and witness in society each day the danger that ensues when we give in to temptation and veer away from God’s plan.
Over time, we come to learn that conforming to public pressures that detract from God’s teachings can only lead to a disastrous outcome – much like the splat that results when a snowball is thrown.
So as we continue through this winter season, may we always strive to live lives that are as pure and innocent as the snow that falls on the ground is meant to be.
This way, we can further explore and display the beauty of God’s nature, while springing into next season being shaped perfectly as part of His majestic wonder.
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God's Giveaways 