First Snowfall

We had our first snowfall of the season tonight. I discovered it as I was calling the family to the supper table (it was raining earlier, so I thought we may get a little ice overnight, but I wasn't expecting snow this early). As of the posting (it's probably been snowing for almost an hour and a half), we've got about an inch or so (2.5 cm).

After supper (well, after we got Anders to try some of his food), we went out for a quick play in it. Anders did some sledding down the small rise behind our house in a make-sift sled (Rubbermaid tote). Nils came and joined us for his first romp in snow--he wasn't sure what to think. He did a ride with Anders in the "sled." We're taking advantage of it while we can--most likely it will be gone by mid-day tomorrow.

I love nice, gentle snowfalls with big flakes--especially at this time of year as we enter the Advent Season. I know that it was probably spring when Jesus was born and not winter (the shepherds were probably out during lambing season); but after growing up in the Midwest, snow helps make it feel like Christmas (I'd have a terrible time living in the South).

But snow, as Isaiah says, reminds us of how white Jesus will cleanse our dirty rag of a soul from sin. And a gentle snowfall is a fitting reminder of how God chose to enter the world--quietly, unobtrusively as a newborn baby, out of the way in a feed trough. And for some reason, the snowfall makes everything feel peaceful--which is why Jesus came: to bring peace back to a fallen, chaotic world.