Month: February 2016

Opening a jar of tomatoes which were canned in some of the hottest, humid days of summer bring a delightful enjoyment. It’s like eating sun inspired vitamins and minerals.

Frozen strawberries remind me of the weeks in late May and early June when the Earliglow variety are ripe. They need to be picked every other day so that the ripe ones will not rot. I think of family members who helped me pick them. My grandchildren love to help! The older ones pick diligently and the preschoolers put more in their mouths than in their containers. I love it! Two days before our daughter’s wedding my dear brother stopped by the farm and asked what needed to be done.  There were ripe berries that needed to be picked to adorn the cupcakes. So we spent time in the strawberry patch together which was a rare occasion.

Delicious tart sour cherries are ripe at the end of June. We have one tree. Thanks to my son who planted it many years ago. Last summer we had a bumper crop. It took me several days to get them picked, pitted, and frozen. Those frozen cherries in my breakfast oatmeal give it a distinctive taste. My husband’s Valentine gift was a sour cherry crumb pie. This week we had cherry cobbler. Ultimate comfort food!

Winter can bring the cloudy, gloomy days and our lives are not always sunny and bright. That’s when we reach into our storehouse of rich Bible verses which give us comfort and inspiration.  Psalms 42 and 43 describe times in our lives when the light is not so bright.

The question is “Why are you in despair, O my soul?”  and the answer is, “Hope in God, for I shall again praise him. The help of my countenance and my God. “

Psalm 42:8 has brought me through the ‘winters’ when there are more clouds then sun.
“The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night. A prayer to the God of my life.”
The songs that spring up in those dark nights are a comfort for the soul and they give strength to keep going on. When the fruit is ripe ie when the revelation is flowing write it down, preserve it, hide scripture in your heart so it can be on the shelf of your mind ready to open, not only for yourself but for those around you.

Looking at the brown earth in my garden gives me a sense of quietness and rest. I don’t need to be concerned if the weeds are growing or if there is produce that needs harvesting. My days feel rather carefree and I can enjoy other pursuits. One of my favorites is watching the falling snow and covering all that brown drabness. Like today, the snowflakes drifted down and gradually piled one on top of the other.

Snow is mentioned in the Bible several times.

• Freshly fallen snow is so clean and unstained. It covers all the mud and previous snow which has become splashed with dirt.
  Psalm 51:7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me and, and I will be whiter than snow.
  Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.
  
• Snow has a purpose and comes from a storehouse, how cool is that!
  Isaiah 55:10-11 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
  Job 38:22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or have you seen the storehouses of the hail?
  Psalm 147:16 he gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes.
  Psalm 148:8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word
• This third group of verses are some of my favorite.
• 
  Snow can be dazzling and almost blinding on a sunny day after a snowfall. Can you imagine what these writers of the Bible saw as they used snow to be able to try to describe the appearance of the Ancient of Days (God the Father), the Son of Man, (Jesus), and the angel at the resurrection?
  John saw Jesus in a vision and this is how John described Jesus. He was clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. Revelation 1:14
  Daniel saw the Ancient of Days; His vesture was like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool.  His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. Daniel 7:9
  Matthew 28:2,3 describes the angel who descended from heaven. There was a severe earthquake, then he rolled the stone away and sat upon it. This is what he looked like. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

Maybe you have some favorite verses to share about snow.