Healing Snow

Hello again!!

Recently we had a rather nice snow storm.  Here in our part of Little Rhody we don't get very much snow.  Towns just 15 minutes away can get lots of snow when we get a few flakes here and there because we are so close to the coast.  Typically, if we do get any amount of snow, it only lasts for a few hours or a day at most.  I used to enjoy this because I love to see the snow falling but I have never really enjoyed the snow.

When I was little I loved the snow until I was out in it for any length of time.  I got so cold and thought that I got frostbite everytime I went outside.  I remember going ice skating with my sister and some friends.  When we came inside I started crying because I was so cold and in pain.  They all just yelled at me and said that they were all cold and to stop crying.

Yes, I am sure they were all cold, but I was in pain.  Later in life I learned that my white fingers and toes meant that I didn't had frostbite, but I did have Raynaud's Syndrome.  

Raynaud's Syndrome is a circulation disease.  When I get even slightly cold it causes my fingers, toes and bottom's of my feet to turn white and have no feeling in them.  When they are "thawing out" or the blood is going back into those places, it is very painful.  I have asked doctor after doctor over the years and their only advice was to wear gloves before going out and once they became white to put them under cool water, not hot, to get them back to normal. Needless to say, snow was not my best friend.   Until trauma.

The year that trauma hit my life, I was teaching and didn't know how I could ever get through the winter staying in my right mind and being cheerful for my little five and six year olds.  But God knew!  That winter we had a lot of snow and it stayed bitterly cold which made the snow stay all winter long.  It just stayed and reflected the sunshine.  It was a sunshine filled winter.  The brightness seemed to smile through my classroom window.  I believe it was God's way of taking care of me and holding His loving arms around me when I wasn't abe to feel His presence.  

Now I see snow in a totally different light.  I look expectantly for it and enjoy every flake that flies through the  air.  Now I see it as a beautiful blessing from my Heavenly Father who loves me and provides for me even when I don't even know it.  

What do you think about the snow? 

XO,

Cherie