A Glimpse – Snow in Houston

Snow in Houston (12/04/09).

Originally uploaded by Inner Beauty Jewelry

This post is part of a series by StudioJRU entitled A Glimpse.  It is a beautiful series that gives us an opportunity to highlight God’s splendor in and around our everyday lives.  If you would like to join, read other similar posts, or share A Glimpse of your own please visit StudioJRU.

I’ve lived in Houston, Texas for 12 years now and during that time it has snowed twice, but I was out of town each time. Now, I can say that it has snowed three times, because it snowed this past Friday. Early in the week there were rumors that it was going to snow. On Thursday, I was out running errands and the temperature dropped sharply reminding me of the winters I’ve spent up North. So, I began to believe that it really might snow. Surely, we wouldn’t get the two inches that I heard the lady talk about in the grocery store. Would we? Maybe just a little dusting.

By 10 AM Friday morning, it was snowing. Pretty big flakes were coming down. Not having seen snow in such a long time, it was just amazing, and beautiful! I was like a child seeing snow for the first time. There is something special about snow falling. When it begins to fall, everything is so very quiet. It’s as if the snow causes all of nature to hush, just for a moment.

God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor. The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them. He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love.   Job 37:5-13, NIV

The next day…

Saturday morning, my family and I were scheduled to take a short lunch cruise around Galveston Bay, just south of Houston. This trip had been planned for months. But, all day Friday we talked about how maybe it should be cancelled – that the weather was just too bad for us to drive the hour that it would take to arrive at the boat dock. But, Saturday morning the sun came out and the sky cleared. We have bright, clear sunny days often in Houston. In fact, I would say they are probably the norm. But, the splendor of this day was that just the day before it had been windy, cloudy, snowy, and wet. Saturday, it was dry, still crisp, but the sun was bright just like a summer day and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was beautiful! We had a great time on the cruise. The bright sunlight bounced off of the waves. There were other boats sailing around and I even saw a couple zip by on jet skis. It was hard to believe that it had been snowing just 24 hours before.

Clear skies and blue waters in Galveston Bay. You would never know that it had snowed the day before.

The Lord has shown us His splendor. All of nature is His and under His control. He displays it to us as He chooses. He showed it to me in such a way that I could appreciate both the snowy day and the sunny day, like a child, even though I’d seen them before. And, my awe is my praise to Him.

Beauty comes from within. What is inner beauty? It is the place where behavior and values meet.

~ S. D. G.