A Canvas of Winter Art

A Canvas of Winter Art

The wind nibbled my cheeks as I crossed the field, lumbering along in snowshoes. My Dad's horse Buddy, was my companion as he trotted alongside the fence, his coat winter-fluffed, and whiskered nose dangling tiny icicles. Wherever I looked, there I saw beauty – stark beauty. The powdery landscape revealed far more than trees, or signs of plant life. Snow – pure, white snow - formed a blank canvas on which the wind etched eddies of design. Likewise, on hillsides and banks, it created wave-like crescents, while other flatter snow surfaces revealed bark-like patterns. Animal tracks wove their way over the sparkling surface – some meandering, others showing purposeful destination. Snow crystals sparkled and twinkled as the sun peeped from behind a cloud. In its full appearance, how the snow radiated its brightness! A brightness that hurt the eyes, compelling me to turn away from it! Yet its beauty was so overpowering I stood mesmerized by it all. So, squinty-eyed I gazed, longing for a camera to capture it all.

This winter trek repeatedly called to my mind the song “Whiter than Snow”.

The blessing by faith, I receive from above
Oh, glory! My soul is made perfect in love
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.

                             Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,
                         Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Made “whiter than snow” by Christ’s work on the cross!  But it doesn’t end there. I long to be a pure canvas– a canvas for God to engrave his patterns across the landscape of my soul. For His Wind to whisper His will, His glory and His power, and more of who He is. For His design to be implanted in the depth of my being, blown across who I am until the one He created me to be is revealed – one small eddy and swirl at a time.

A canvass with tracks meandering, moving, His leading mine.

A canvass bright with His glory, radiating to a hurting world a brilliance flowing solely from Him.

May I faithfully trace His footprints with my own, going wherever His lead.

May His presence in my life fashion me as a work of art displaying His grace, love and beauty.

 

^“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7).