Snowflakes - God's breath - Make your mark

I received an e-mail from imom (http://www.imom.com/) a few days ago. It mentioned if the kids have seen snowflakes....really, really up close. It referred to a website: http://www.snowflakebentley.com/snowflakes.htm about Wilson Bentley. He photographed individual snowflake crystals...in 1885! http://www.snowflakebentley.com/index.htm

Now, I am NOT a big fan of snow, but looking at the images of individual snowflakes....WOW! I am amazed that there is such intricate design. In over 5,000 photographs, he never found 2 alike. I kind of always thought that was just a saying, no 2 snowflakes are alike.

If God takes such care and creativity with snowflakes that are only here for a little while and even less when we head indoors and they melt away forever, how much does He have planned for us?

We are like snowflakes too. Each individual with our own unique perspective on life, each here for a reason and purpose in this time in this place because God designed us to be the one right here right now. Even twins can look similar, but their personalities distinguish them as individuals.

I knew there was a passage in Job where God questions Job if he has ever been to the storehouses of snow. I read back over that in NIV and then found this in The Message version.

Job 37 1-13 (The Message) "Whenever this happens, my heart stops— I'm stunned, I can't catch my breath. Listen to it! Listen to his thunder, the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice. He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon, lighting up the earth from pole to pole. In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice, powerful and majestic. He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back. No one can mistake that voice—His word thundering so wondrously, his mighty acts staggering our understanding. He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!' and the rain, 'Soak the whole countryside! 'No one can escape the weather—it's there. And no one can escape from God. Wild animals take shelter, crawling into their dens, When blizzards roar out of the north and freezing rain crusts the land. It's God's breath that forms the ice, it's God's breath that turns lakes and rivers solid. And yes, it's God who fills clouds with rainwater and hurls lightning from them every which way. He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that—commands them to do what he says all over the world. Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love, he makes sure they make their mark.

When snowflakes are blown about, they can seem pretty scary. As they settle on the ground, and the sun glints off them, they look like diamonds. THEN we see the flakes as a problem, needing to get the shovel or snow blower.

Our problems can be like that. When looked at as a whole, kind of overwhelming. Sometimes we need to make our way through the problem before we can sit back and see the individual twists and turns that we have grown through. AND if they get too bad, we have a pretty good snow blower that can help us make a path through it all and get to the other side where we have the ability to help somebody else.

May we feel God's breath helping us to make our mark.