This day is still pretty new, but already I know that it is not an ordinary day. (if there is such a thing, as I discussed in yesterday’s post) Spring is in full swing here and the various flowering trees are full of lovely, delicate color everywhere one looks. It is as if earth is decorating herself for some upcoming grand occasion. I can see and feel things springing to life all around me. (guess that’s where Spring gets her name?) But I could not have predicted the sight that greeted my eyes this morning because it was not ordinary nor customary nor usual in any way. (although the weather forecasters did predict just exactly this and I have to confess – I was not happy about the possibility of dealing with snow this late in April)

I could hardly believe my eyes as I drove to work in the early morning hush. Spring dressed up in Winter’s clothes today. She borrowed Winter’s wardrobe, putting on Winter’s soft, pure white coat over her already vibrantly colored clothes of flower petals new and tender. Today the snow did not cover earth’s barrenness but earth’s beauty, and earth’s beauty shone through the snow – earth’s springtime beauty as she adorns herself with color after her long sleep. The result of this wardrobe sharing by Spring and Winter – defying adequate description, is the creation of an enchanted landscape everywhere I look. There is too much beauty surrounding me this morning for me to take it all in, no matter how long I look.

What a way to start the day! As if an ordinary sunrise would not have been sufficient. (although there is nothing ordinary about any sunrise that I have ever seen) But this morning’s manna from heaven was certainly spectacular. This gift is food for my soul, to prepare me for and sustain me through whatever this day will bring, Beauty in the unexpected. Snowfall in late April definitely qualifies as the unexpected. This morning miracle amid the mundane prompts me to praise the Sender of the snow, the Giver of every good gift, the Creator of all the universe, the Orchestrator of my ordinary days, which turn out to be not so ordinary after all. Just look how this one has begun! I am reminded that –

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Today, I am witness once again to the wonders of the work of His hands – today, along with all creation I –

“Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him. . . . Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” (Psalm 98:1-9)

“All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You, they sing praise to Your name.” (Psalm 66:4)

so, on this not so ordinary day –

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6)

sincerely, Grace Day