In Japan, the cherry blossoms symbolize the beginning of the blooming season and the blossom of spring. For some, it’s a tradition to walk through paths covered with the pink flowers just to view their beauty. It parallels the romantic evening walk in France underneath the Eiffel Tower and the sweet nature walks of the Smoky Mountains.

But the morning gleam across streets and yards covered in snow is uniquely beautiful. The cherry blossoms of spring struggle to compete with the snowflakes falling from the sky, big enough to see their intricate shapes as they fall, crystalized rain more beautiful than any sugar crystals man can create. 

Memories of snow forts and snowball fights, capture-the-flag winter trench wars and five foot mounds of plowed snow fill my mind each winter as I dream of white Tennessee streets, incomparable to the winters of Illinois. Snow danced around me as I formed some of my strongest friendships. Snow transported me out of the harsh world and into a dreamland of purity and everlasting friendship. Snow was that gateway for me, something that I never groaned about the way all the adults did. 

But snow isn’t common in Middle Tennessee. It’s a distant hope, forbidden luxury. The kids scream excitedly at just the mention of it while the adults race to the store and empty the shelves in COVID-like fashion. 

So snow has become a reflection for me. It’s no longer a gateway into a dreamland of friendship, but the story of my life. It’s the story of the friends I had, the family that never stopped loving me, and my home for that season. It’s the tale of the hard times and the best times, the green Christmases and the white ones. 

Most importantly, it’s a reminder that God will continue to provide like he did all those snowy years. As I approach a season of my life when I’ll be gripping His hand tight just to make it through, snow reminds me that He will provide, because he always has. I can hold that same joy now as I did tumbling through the snow years ago, because while the snow isn’t everywhere all the time, God is. And I can tumble around in the goodness of his love no matter what the weather brings.

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”

Isaiah 1:18

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.