Winter Beckons

Could've come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could've come like a forrest fire
With the power of heaven in your flame



But you came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below



You could've swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could've come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we've scarred



But you came like a winter snow, yes you did
You were quiet, you were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below



Ooh no, your voice wasn't in a bush, burning
No, your voice wasn't in a rushing wind
It was still, it was small, it was hidden

Summer Snow - oh how it blows...

Nope, that isn't snow piled up against the curb outside our house, it's some kind of cotton from the trees around our neighborhood. There are mounds of it dusting the ground and cottony poufs flying through the air, so much that you must be careful to keep your mouth closed when going for a walk or you'll eat the fluffy white seed clouds.


The culprit is this long collection of seed pods that hung from trees just a week ago. They've "blossomed" into a furry mass and as they blow in the breeze, are ripped from their home in the branches to scatter and fall all over the earth.

The collections of cottony seeds are very easy to pick up...and so soft!

Yesterday Spring, Today Winter

The weather up here in Washington seems to turn on a dime...quite different from California.

~*~*~*~

“It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily. "So it is." "And freezing." "Is it?" "Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately.”

~ A.A. Milne

Light of the Morning

The snow fell this morning in torrents, like rain from the sky, and settled upon everything like a dusting of ladies powder, and then vanished to reveal clear, sunny skies.

2 Samuel 23:4

And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,

A morning without clouds,

Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,

By clear shining after rain.

Stepping Stones

Romans 8
Free from Indwelling Sin

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

~*~*~*~*~

I often feel, as we all do, that I do not know my own way and whether each step I take is the right kind, and in the right direction. I waver, sometimes I slip or trip, and it feels like I am stepping on stones instead of a cleared, flat path. Rather than questioning my place, and God's will for me as it relates to my own uncertainty, I remind myself that my decisions about where to place each foot ,and said foot's sometimes subsequent wobble, is not due to my own inability to walk by faith in Christ, but the fact that as a child of God I'm not of this world and its ways are not familiar to me. So...it's alright that I should hope and pray in earnest, ever-striving to do what God would have me do though I feel uncomfortable and out of place among the stoney-road jet-setters, skipping along without a care in the world for all their agility. This is not a race and my effort and dilligence will be rewarded. Where I am going, I will have wings and a God-given spirit which will soar above the rocky rubble, to forever praise His holy name.

When Spring is Afraid to be Sprung

Further, our heavenly Father, we come before Thee now washed in the blood, wearing the snow-white robe of Christ's righteousness, and we ask Thee to remember Thy people. Some are sore burdened; lighten the burden or strengthen the shoulder. Some are bowed down with fear; peradventure they mistrust; forgive the mistrust and give a great increase of faith that they may trust Thee where they cannot trace Thee. The Lord remember any who bear the burden of others. Some cry to Thee day and night about the sins of the times, about the wanderings of Thy Church. Lord hear our prayers! We would bear this yoke for Thee, but help us to bear it without fearing so as to distrust Thee. May we know that Thou wilt take care of Thine own cause and preserve Thine own truth, and may we therefore be restful about it all.

~Under the Blood
A prayer of C. H. Spurgeon