Snowflakes In The Summertime
August is an interesting time of the year. Many of my annual flowers look rough because they have reached the end of their growing cycle. Here in zone 7, it is too early to plant fall mums, ornamental cabbage, or pansies.
Garden centers and retail stores are placing summer items on clearance to make room for, dare I say it, Christmas merchandise. Honestly, seeing Christmas items in the summertime does not bother me that much. I worked in retail stores for over 25 years, so I can appreciate the time it takes to “flip” a store from one season to the next.
A new school year is about to begin here in Oklahoma. As I see the bright yellow school buses go by, I can’t help but think back to my own childhood years. Growing up in the ’60s and 70’s in a small rural community brought about a different set of emotions.
There was always a lot of work to do on the farm during the summer season. It took the entire family working together to get everything accomplished. We had a huge vegetable garden that needed tending. In addition, there were beef cattle, sheep, chickens, cats, and dogs to feed. A small pasture of alfalfa hay and approximately 60 acres of corn and soybeans grew in the fields.
I’m sure you can guess that we had very little time for trips to town during the summer. For the most part, the only friends I saw were those whose fathers were also farmers. My cousins came out to visit occasionally, but other than that, summer was a quiet, secluded time of year.
When the school year came around, I was anxious to see the rest of my friends. But, I was also very nervous. It’s funny; even today, when I see the back-to-school ads, I get a familiar sick feeling in my stomach. I remember what it was like in the first 2-3 weeks back to school. It seemed everyone had a whole closet full of new clothes…except me. Being the youngest of six children, most of my clothes were hand-me-downs. My mother was an excellent seamstress and could mend or tailor almost anything to fit me. She carefully surveyed what was good enough for school clothes, and then we went shopping. Our purchases amounted to one pair of jeans, a couple of pairs of socks, and if I was lucky, I got one new shirt too.
As a child, I really didn’t appreciate what I had. In my eyes, all I knew was that I felt like I was on the outside looking in.
“You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.”
Psalm 139:15-16
The Christmas decorations in the stores brought back another memory from my childhood.
I remember playing outside in the snow. On the days we got a slow, gentle snowfall, I loved to just stand in the middle of the yard and hold out my mittened hand to catch the snowflakes. Each and every flake was unique and beautiful. Science explains that no two snowflakes are the same because no two water molecules are the same. For me, that is just another element of truth that the earth and everything in it could not have “just happened.”
The same is true of you and me, my friends. We all have a story. The events in our lives, whether they are good or bad, have shaped us. Some events are ordained by God; others are an attack from the enemy.
The wonderful thing about God is that He can not be surprised. He can not be taken off guard. There is absolutely nothing that the enemy can throw at us that our Almighty God doesn’t see coming. What the enemy intended as evil, God has the power to turn for good. That is why it is so crucial to spend time with Him every day. We have no idea what the next few minutes, hours, or days of our lives hold..but God does. He has already been there. Jesus defeated the enemy over two thousand years ago, and it did not stop there. He has given us authority and power to win victories in our own lives.
We must overcome so that we can reach out to others and share our hope with the world around us.
What is that God has put in your heart to accomplish for His kingdom? You don’t have to know every detail on how to get there. All you need to do is begin.
You are uniquely you, a snowflake intricately made by the Creator of the universe himself. So step out into all He has for you.
It is a specially tailored work just for you and only you.
Always remember the Lord has promised that He will be there every step of the way.
He knows your name. He sees you, and you are beautiful.
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8