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!
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| 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?
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