Snowfall

We've been getting a lot of snow lately (for Kentucky). Just last week, we had somewhere between 6 and 8 inches of snow on the ground, more than we've had in years. All the snow has made for some great photography, and my brother Tyler (shown below) and I have taken advantage of it. Thanks for the beauty of snow, Lord!

A thorn:

Before. . .

. . . And after

This was aparently an animal trail. There were six different sets of animal tracks coming down this hill. It was pretty neat. You can click on the image for an enlargement.

Melting

John 16:33

It was the end of a stormy day, June 26, 2009. I got outside and had an amazing time of photography. I first got these pictures of sun rays beaming above giant clouds. The cloud picture below, which I titled "Tower Cloud" was simply huge. It's so hard to tell, but it literally towered over my head. It was so very high. 

As the massive clouds moved on, the sun began to beam out below the clouds down to the horizon. It was gorgeous. 

As I said, this was back in June of last year. Here recently, however, I ran into a verse in John 16 that would bring these pictures to my attention again:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33, English Standard Version). 

What a reminder of the comfort I can draw through the knowledge that my Savior has overcome the world. Though I face clouds and storms, the hope of His victory beams through the clouds of my tribulation and gives me peace. Sound like a verse picture? It sure did to me. So using one of those pictures from June, I put together the following picture:

Ice Storm of '09

This post consists of pictures from last year's ice storm, which hit in very late January. It was bad. It's hard to see how bad it was from the pictures, but it was pretty awful. Actually, we were pretty well off. God was good to us and provided for our needs. Dad's truck "just so happened" to be gone when the storm hit, so Dad left it at the bottom of the driveway so we could get out to get groceries etc. We even had a generator to keep things running, so we really didn't have it to badly. There were those who were without power for two weeks or more, while we were out of power for only about a week. But it was an ice storm, which, like any other storm, is challenging.

Even though it was bad, however, it was still beautiful. It seems there is beauty to be found in almost all of creation, even the stuff that seems bad.
This was a sunset on one of the evenings of the ice storm. You can see how the sunlight reflects off the ice on the branches of the trees. Beautiful.

Obviously, trees don't normally bend over like this. Hee hee.

Our House.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the ice storm because you can see the destruction it caused by all the branches on the ground, and yet the beauty of the ice on the branches and the evening colors.

This was a sunrise on one of the ice storm mornings. So sparkly and gorgeous. It really was simply beautiful! It's hard to capture on camera, but I remember very clearly how it sparkled and shone.

I suppose there is beauty in all storms, physical or spiritual. The trick is to find it. Needless to say, beauty wasn't too hard to find in this storm!

Lamentations 3:22-23

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamenations 3:22-23, English Standard Version).

All these pictures were taken on different days. There are usually only about two mornings out of the whole year where there is fog and sun just right to get these pictures. But I always enjoy getting them. They're so beautiful with the sun rays shining through the leaves. Although not every sunrise is equally beautiful, and sometimes you can't see it at all, the sun always rises. Not for my praise or pleasure, but simply because that's how it is. God's mercies are the same way. Whether I notice them or not, they're always there. What a merciful Lord!