fresh snow

There is something so wonderful about firsts. When we see things on a daily basis, we forget about the wonder and awe of seeing it for the first time or with new eyes. For some of my students, seeing snow this weekend was a brand new experience. For one of my students, this is only the second time she's ever seen snow, and the last time she was it, there was nothing more than a light dusting covering the ground. So waking up yesterday morning, to see the transformation from the dead, brown grass and dirt patches, to see the world magically covered with a blanket of millions of tiny ice crystals, was truly breathtaking.

We appreciate that first snow. It transforms what we know so well into something completely new. We might enjoy it at first, but like my friends who live in places, it becomes old when that is all you see, day in and day out. The commute to work becomes so much more difficult and it loses its magic.

One my my reoccurring prayers is that God would give me eyes to see the world as something new every day. When I lived in Nigeria, the pollution and smog were so bad, that I never saw the blue sky.  The city of nearly two million where I lived, had its fair share of dirt and trash everywhere. I never really noticed how much it bothered me, until I got home and couldn't stop gulping in big breaths of air as I stood in awe of the beauty around me. The very things I'd grown up seeing on a daily basis, suddenly looked brand new.

For the first several months in the US, I founds spots where I could watch the sunset, because it was all so new and beautiful. (click here  and here for the blog posts)

Lamentations 3:22-23 says:

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

One writer for Desiring God, Jon Bloom, says this:

"The real illusion is not that old things appear new to us (like God's mercies or a sunrise), but that new things never appear old."

May the newly fallen, fresh snow never get old.

Praise God that every single moment I live in is a new experience and I pray that he would always give me the eyes to see it that way!

All Things New

Your love's making all things new
You're working in all for good
For the things of this world
There is hope renewed
In the life that is found in You

You make all things new
You make all things new
Yesterday and forever
Your love never changing
This hope never fading
Hallelujah

-Hillsong