First Snow

Our first "real" snow of this season is SO beautiful. This bush in the front of our house wears it softly.

It evokes this response from me....in the words of an old hymn:

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul;
Break down every idol, cast out every foe—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow
- Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,
  Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, let nothing unholy remain,
Apply Thine own blood and extract every stain;
To get this blest cleansing, I all things forego—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies,
And help me to make a complete sacrifice;
I give up myself, and whatever I know—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet,
By faith for my cleansing, I see thy blood flow—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait;
Come now and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee Thou never said’st “No”—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
The blessing by faith, I receive from above;
Oh, glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.

I Shall Be Whiter than Snow by James L. Nicholson, 1872

11 comments:

EileenDecember 19, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Beautiful photo!
Beautiful song!

I love how Mother Nature will call to mind our spiritual nature!

I should be doing my Christmas preparations, but I took a little break to post and visit (I finished a post last night, but I was so tired I forgot to publish it!), I'll have a nice cup of white hot chocolate and then get back to cleaning and baking!
I'm glad I stopped here though, it's always so uplifting.

We're supposed to get a big snow storm too (they are predicting a Nor'easter)! Ray and I ran out early to get new snow boots for Jayden and a snow suit as he's outgrown last year's, and we got out early to do our food shopping because the flurries were supposed to start by 10:00 AM, but so far nothing! It is very cold and windy though, and I am so thankful to have the Blessing of this nice warm house.
And I pray God's Protection around the so many homeless out on the streets.

Love to you,
Eileen
ReplyDelete
Replies
Kathleen December 19, 2009 at 1:40 PM
Beautiful - both the snow pic and your reflections!

Blessings,
Kathleen
ReplyDelete
Replies
AndreaDecember 19, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Beautiful picture. We are enjoying a winter wonderland here, too.
Blessings and prayers, andrea
ReplyDelete
Replies
Sniffles and SmilesDecember 19, 2009 at 4:54 PM
One of my most favorite hymns...so perfect as it is snowing here...the drifts are already 4ft...and growing...Such a beautiful meditation as I sit here watching it fall!! Love, Janine XO
ReplyDelete
Replies
JackieDecember 19, 2009 at 6:54 PM
We have a little 3 1/2 year old girl in our church who is going to sing this on Sunday night as part of our Christmas program....What a plesure and delight to see and hear a young child sing this song....straight from the heart of a child....nothing could be more special. If we could as come to Him with the heart of a child...loving, trusting.
Thank you for your loving blog...your photos, this song...your tesitmony to our Lord.
You are very special to me, Rebecca.
With love to you,
Jackie
ReplyDelete
Replies
RebeccaDecember 19, 2009 at 7:13 PM
Oh, Jackie, I'm tearful just imagining this little girl singing this song. I pray that the joy of the Lord will just fill your auditorium and that love will flow freely throughout the entire audience & into the homes/families who will be touched.
ReplyDelete
Replies
BernieDecember 19, 2009 at 7:20 PM
Oh what a beautiful heart and spirt you have Rebecca, you are so encouraging and uplifting to all of us...may you always have such beautiful snow especially at Christmas....I love, love the song.......:-) Hugs
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousDecember 19, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Dear Rebecca,

Wishing you a happy birthday and a joyful and peaceful Christmas time :)

blessings,

maria
ReplyDelete
Replies
DeniseDecember 20, 2009 at 12:22 AM
Beyond beautiful.
ReplyDelete
Replies
UnknownDecember 20, 2009 at 3:42 PM
Rebecca, What a beautiful post! Whiter than snow........that's almost harder to imagine, isn't it???

I've heard that in Heaven the colors will be more intense, deep, beautiful than anything we can imagine. I had never really thought til just now that "white" will even be more intensely WHITE!!!!

Yeah!!

Love you!

Thankful to be washed in his blood!

Tammy
ReplyDelete
Replies
RebeccaDecember 20, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Tammy, What a thought! "More intensely WHITE!"

How good to meet HERE for the first time - joined by our wonder of being washed in His blood.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy

First Snow

I Shall Be Whiter than Snow by James L. Nicholson, 1872

11 comments:

Writing a Song a Week #3