A Blanket of Snow and Relationships

Wake to the wonderment of blissful white filling the landscape, which will elicit a euphoric response. The magnificent beauty of a cottony blanket of pure snow is captivating. Perhaps it isn’t earth-shattering and often only a good three inches in covering, but just enough to ignite the excitement it brings.

I love watching the reaction to the first snow. First comes the hurry to the window, taking in the beauty of the snow puffs that rest atop the tree branches. The hurried approach is crucial, so you will see the blanket before the footprints or the frolicking of excited snow enthusiasts disrupts.

Snowfall brings many feelings and emotions. Each time the snow presents itself, there is a new experience. The brisk fresh air always encourages an extra moment to inhale. It seems because it’s cold and surrounded by fluffy white crystals like a masterpiece. Snow makes the sky seem clean and refreshing even though the same pollutants of cars and factories may be nearby. I suppose it’s the whiteness, the cleanness, the newness which creates that fresh, crackling, crisp, and spotless view.

The second emotion is excitement as we huddle to plan for the special day. These emotions have memories intertwined in each thought or request that evoke the latest snow event. For example, we will first play in it, then enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa, a clear plan to come together with family or friends and share a meal, movie, or good old board game. Bask in the warmth of a smoldering fireplace as we imagine an icy glass menagerie forming as the wind whips and molds magical pieces in the outdoor wonderland.

The third and most curious is the eagerness to work. Your neighborhood comes alive with folks shoveling or snow blowing; a good friend arrives with a plow and a random act of kindness that eases the snow removal. Younger people keep an eye out for the older folks to ensure they meet their needs in the snowfall's aftermath. The snow brings a sense of community, family, and friendship just by falling into place.

We find snowfalls unique regardless of what was occurring before the flakes scatter. Routines, disagreements, stress, playful bickering, or lack of motivation don’t matter anymore because the blanket of snow life renews. Your adrenaline comes into play, as there is always something new, different, and unique about that day. Snow makes us react, whether we like it; either way, we have to respond.

Relationships with family and friends are like a snowfall, whimsical with the delight of newness, and when fresh, they are dreamy and fun. Once trampled, it may show the neglect and dirt that can mingle in the bright white flakes. What's unique in the new snow is that a sudden snowstorm brings people together, forcing people to take care of their property and the surrounding areas. Snow puts everyone on alert to prepare for the upcoming storm. When the wind comes, while frustrated by the potential for danger and the disruption storms can cause to our plans, they mesmerize us the same. We are blissful with this fresh blanket covering our world's little defects.

I pose this scenario as the snow makes me ponder relationships and marriages. It's impossible not to notice how under attack relationships and friendships are these days. Everywhere you turn in a grocery store or on the world news, healthy marriage or a brand new relationship is breaking apart. I place relationships with friends and young people, adults to seniors, in this category. At the start, a relationship seems light and airy with lots of fluff, at least in its infancy. All connections have a blanket of newness, like the pure, untouched snow. I question whether the work of clearing away the disruption is worth it? Please focus on the neglect causing our mess and how to weather the storm. Our relationships are worth at least the attention we give to a snowstorm.

We could learn to motivate one another in our relationships with each other and with God. When things are light and fluffy, we can relax, take in the view, and enjoy the thrill of newness. We have to say even when a relationship goes through terrible storms where storms hail from the outside with unpredictable forces, others are due to minor neglects that can mount. While snow forms piles of unwanted dark snow in a parking lot, they are still worth the effort. We fall victim to the new storm getting slushy and wishing the slush to disappear, but keep the pure white fluff." There is a short, slippery slope: "Oh, snow melts; I will ignore the pile brewing for a while."

Snow will melt, but if we don't stay curious about storms, we can lose focus, and clean-up is not accessible anymore. How do we work toward understanding the slush pile? We miss the boat when we don't give credit to the history of the mountain of refuse. When we pay close attention to the past, discussing the good and bad alike, we sift through the pile, appreciating the dirt and learning from it. Allowing us a chance to focus on the soil is a stepping-stone to growth, as we can collectively enjoy our human nature and understand the negative responses. Without a focus on the darkness in our lives, we're not guarding or protecting, and this gives way to an opportunity for a dark, dirty mess to permeate our pure blanket of white. It's a gift to focus on the dirt in our lives to learn from it and can then begin a process to create a barrier to this constant repetitive insult.

Please don't give up, as our relationships are under attack. Wait for the deep snow that builds up in the storms to melt and add a little elbow grease to clear away the grime. Realize that anything worth having is worth renewing. People aren't perfect, and thus, there are no ideal relationships. But complete understanding and guidance from God and our relationship with Him.

We must continue to perfect this relationship when things go hazy as they will with the stresses of life in all areas of relational circumstance, with spouses, friends, significant others, children, teens, teachers, and people in authority. We will buckle under pressure. When we buckle, we still may lose our balance or even stumble. The fact is God is present in that moment. He wants to pick you up, brush you off and head you back to the pile of neglected, deep snow remaining in your parking lot. Let Him help you clear your collection; He wants you to succeed if we listen and pay attention.

Our Father may bring the answers from the person or thing you least expect; in fact, count on that. The tactic or method may confuse and even be scary, often not as you imagined. Though this work may be time-consuming and seem ridiculous, clarity comes at the bottom of the pile. Extreme joy comes from tracking through a storm together, even getting bounced around, as long as we get back on the course. You are going through life, fighting for love, trust, and understanding, accepting and forgiving when you don't understand the what's or why's. Why does God allow my anger to throw curveballs? What does God expect me to do when someone treats me like this or that?

God does for us every day, every hour, every minute. If we want to be even a snowflake worth of His beautiful blanket for someone else, we must trust Him and do as He would do for any of us. We must recognize His will is perfect as we are experiencing life. We will fight the weather report, run from the pain, shelter from the hail, and even pretend life's not happening. We will decide our interpretation of God's will rather than facing the truth of His expectation. But going through the storm with God at our side is a gift.

We will need reminding of what God wants for and from our life, but if we seek Him together in our relationships, all of our links will be beautiful. I know the most important thing is for all of us to focus on our relationship with God. Looking into your heart and reflecting your nature with His word are the only way, truth, and light for our future. When we reach a stumbling block, we know where to go for solace and answers, yet we kick and scream first. We even cry to the point of release and near give up. We also realize that every time in life that this happens, He will swoop right into that door where we will briskly try to close it on HIM. We may have even pinched His toes a few times in our stubborn refusal to listen to His plan, and He still forgives. We should be most grateful for His grace and forgiveness. It should please us that God reminds us to take ownership of wrongdoings in our relationships with all those we meet and, of course, those we love.

I recognize my blessings from God in the storms; one of the most significant is my relationship with a gentleman who is a quiet and honest observer of life. Our attention humbles together with us towards the word of God. Communicate passionately, both in love and in disagreement; alike in goals, but with very distinctive personalities.

God gave us both great strengths and significant weaknesses, and we're painfully aware, after many years together, to know how to push buttons. We come through storms to understand how to build each other up, continuing to learn about one another as new snow falls. Admit that we need to go to God together and often allow conviction in what is pleasing to Him.

At least, clearing away the mud together allows us to struggle to get to the purpose and understanding of God's WILL for our lives. When the reward comes, it is like receiving a beautiful spring bouquet and the new season starting with a newness of grace.

James 1

New International Version (NIV)

1 James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the Nations: Greetings.

Trials and Temptations 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters,[a]whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wildflower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Listening and Doing ~19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.