Good evening brethren and happy Sabbath! As you hopefully saw in the e-mail and text that were sent out earlier, in person services are cancelled for tomorrow. We will have a live webcast at 10:30 AM at https://www.ucg.org/congregations/charlotte-nc/webcast 

More snow

As you all know, we are expecting a big winter storm this weekend. While it’s disappointing not to be able to assemble together tomorrow, a hefty layer of snow on the ground brings out a few thoughts I’d like to share.

As a young person, I always enjoyed the snow for the fun it brought – days off school, sledding, building igloos, snowball fights, etc. To be honest, I still love doing those things, even though I’m long out of school. The challenge is, I don’t have any good hills to sled on and we rarely get enough snow to build an igloo. Fortunately, my wife loves a good spirited snowball fight, so at least there’s still that.

Calm and clean

Beyond those things, what I love about a good, heavy snow is the sense of calm and refreshing it brings. You never really notice how much noise the rustling of leaves makes until that blanket of snow mutes that noise. And if you have a full moon and a clear night after a good snow, the way the moon reflects on the pure, white canvas of snow lights up the night to create a beautiful and surreal scene.

Why do I share all this? It was tempting for me to talk about the coming spring with flowers popping up, birds chirping and the signs of new life that will soon abound. But in doing so, I would have rushed past an opportunity to reflect on enjoying the winter.

Enjoy the seasons

I think there’s something we can take from that. While it might not be most people’s favorite season, there are a few things we can enjoy about winter. If we spend too much time looking forward to spring, we might miss those.

My point is simply this — enjoy every season. Not just of the year, but of life. Whether you’re a young person in the springtime of your life, or an old man settling into winter, take time and enjoy every beautiful moment our loving Father presents us with.