small fire

It got so cold so quickly around these parts.
A lovely fall one day, full-on winter the next, it seemed.

Isn't life just like that sometimes?
(and all the Manitobans said, "amen.")

But really, life, isn't it like that sometimes?

You're just walking through a season of beauty and warmth - you feel it all around you....

And suddenly - so very suddenly, it all gets cold.
And you find yourself in winter.
Not the winter that will go away by tomorrow, and you'll see grass again.  The one where the coldness gets colder and the showers are always flakes and pile and pile and pile.


But the warmth isn't all gone.


There's a small fire - a glimmer of grace, a feeling of love.  It pours down from heaven and this you hope will pile up and overflow.

And as you wait, it does overflow.

Truth and mercy.
Grace and goodness.


And it's still winter, but
the Light of love has come
and isn't going anywhere.


So all that's left to do is praise.

bright spot

it has been very cold up here in our little part of the world.

very.
cold.

like -45˚C (-49˚F) with the windchill kind of cold.

like the kind of weather many americans think we have all the time and that we're used to because we live in igloos, but that we're NOT used to, and we really dislike, no matter how tough we try to act about it!

car parts fall off.  yes, that happened to us this week.

house pipes freeze.  yes, that happened to friends this week.

exposed skin freezes in seconds so children stay indoors for days at a time. (and have a LOT of pent up energy.)

it's rough.

but there's one marvel that only happens in weather like this.

sundogs.

here's the wiki definition of a sundog, if you don't know (or if your kids have been asking and you just now remembered to look it up):

Sundogs are made commonly of plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or, during very cold weather, by ice crystals called diamond dust drifting in the air at low levels. These crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°. If the crystals are randomly oriented, a complete ring around the sun is seen — a halo. But often, as the crystals sink through the air they become vertically aligned, so sunlight is refracted horizontally — in this case, sundogs are seen.

sundogs are a beautiful phenomenon and always a delight to spot.  this morning i pulled back the curtains and saw the sundogs rising with the sun... there's something i've never in my 37 years seen before!

one of the sundogs

i couldn't get a good picture of the sun and it's two "dogs" because it was too close and too low and i certainly was NOT going outside to take a picture!

but here's a picture my friend took driving home from the northern US through the flat plains of north dakota:

it can be hard to find good in these cold days that can be such a bother, but this morning those sundogs were a gift.  a reminder that God is in the freezing cold, and creating beauty within.  after being "laid up" for 2 days with my silly back, it was just the reminder that i needed.  sometimes i need to be slowed down, stopped even, to see the greatness of my God.  sometimes it takes the struggle for us to start earnestly seeking the face of the Lord and finding true delight when we catch that little glimpse.

yes, there is a bright spot today, two in fact! one on either side of the sun.

a gift.

Psalm 136:1-8

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords:

His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders,

His love endures forever.

who by his understanding made the heavens,

His love endures forever.

who spread out the earth upon the waters,

His love endures forever. 

who made the great lights—

His love endures forever.

the sun to govern the day, 

His love endures forever.

Can you find a bright spot to this day? 

morning light

In the first week of January, four mornings in a row, I woke and opened my blinds to a sight just like this:  the sky hand-painted by a loving God.

I was busy that week and was only able to gaze at the sunrise for a few moments before rushing into the morning routine.

But the first morning the sunrise was hidden beneath a thick covering of clouds, I noticed.  And as morning after morning, after morning came and went without a sunrise to enjoy, I started to find my heart wishing and aching to see that light again.  I would close my blinds at night before I went to bed and I would pray, "Oh Lord, let there be a sunrise for me to see so I can worship You."

"Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we'll skip and dance all the day long"

(psalm 90:14 the message)

I think I missed a few - getting up late and rushing without even opening the blinds, but today

today

the sun shone, slowly rising above the houses across the street.

I've come to realize how very reliant I am on the bright sun, and how much I miss it when it's not around.  I need the light, but somehow it's more than that - it's the reminder of a creative and powerful God that has an intimate care for ME that brings life and light to my soul.  How thankful I am that I live in a part of the world that is blessed with lots of sun! 

How I want to reflect the Light to the world around me.

"Get out of bed, Jerusalem [BECKY]! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight.
   God's bright glory has risen for you.
The whole earth is wrapped in darkness,
   all people sunk in deep darkness,
But God rises on you,
   his sunrise glory breaks over you.
Nations will come to your light,
   kings to your sunburst brightness.
Look up! Look around!
   Watch as they gather, watch as they approach you:
Your sons coming from great distances,
   your daughters carried by their nannies.
When you see them coming you'll smile—big smiles!
   Your heart will swell and, yes, burst!"

(isaiah 60:1-5 the message)