New Beginnings: Snowflake Wishes

Posted January 18, 2022 by Maureen Metcalf

Categories: Featured, Maureen, Sister Post

“May you grow still enough to hear the stir of a single snowflake in the air, so that your inner silence may turn into hushed expectation” -David Steindl-Rast

I live in Wyoming, where we typically have snow on and off for many months. I usually bemoan the cold and winter, but this year I decided to think of snow through a different lens. I was ecstatic that it snowed on Christmas Eve. I had hoped it would. Big, beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky gave me a greater appreciation for this season and snowflake wishes came to mind.

Peace in the Silence

After a heavy snowfall, there is a stillness like we don’t experience in any other season. No birds chirp when you awake. No breeze ruffles the leaves on trees. Watching snowflakes fall brings a sense of peace in the silence.

I have early memories of making snow angels, bundling up so much we couldn’t walk, ice skating, and sledding. Constructive boredom turned to creative play with my sisters. But now that I’m older, I can appreciate the opportunity to hunker down, get cozy, and give self-permission to sloth a bit in pajamas. I curl up with an enjoyable book or movie, warm blanket, and company if necessary. It’s a special time with those you love all under one roof, even if you’re doing different things. For these reasons I welcome the season of winter.

Peering out my window, I see mature, barren trees. I’m filled with hope because I know in time their leaves will bloom again. They are resting. I wonder if we really leaned into the purpose for winter, a season of rest, if we would have more appreciation for the harsh weather.

A Season of Rest

The season of winter brings mixed emotions, yet it can be a time to embrace the pause, dig deeper, reflect, and plan with anticipation. Embrace winter’s beauty to awaken your senses for what is to come, grow, and flourish. Soak in all that is good, take a deep breath, exhale slowly and as you do, think of one thing in that moment that you appreciate in your life.

A snowflake falls with uncertainty, not knowing where it may land or how long it will exist until it morphs into the moisture needed to nurture the soil. Start fresh in this new year, light, simple, free of unnecessary worry, like the snowflake. Life is but a glimpse. Some of us may grace this earth longer than others. Others may leave this earth in what feels way too soon. None of us will escape suffering and heartache in our lifetime, so in the sweet and sour moments in our life let us intentionally look for the beauty amid it all.

Embracing the Winter

The serenity and whiteness of the snow can be breathtaking. Snow covers the impurities of life and reminds us of our own purity. The winter season reminds me to embrace what is right now and that what is, will not always be. To be present and grateful and enjoy it with anticipation of what is yet to come. The sun does not lessen, it shines the same way through the trees in every season. The snowflake is delicate and falls silently from the heavens. No two snowflakes are the same. Snowflakes are intricate and exemplify God’s attention to detail.

 This winter, whether you see snowflakes or not, allow yourself to embrace this season with fresh awareness and your senses awakened to the beauty and purpose for each season. Be okay with grieving what feels lost, unfinished, or left behind. Even grieving what you know deep down may never be. This permission you give yourself…this pause…may open your heart and mind to new possibilities.

Do not dwell on failure, past mistakes, or comparison. Be okay with you, your circumstances right now, and work to find the freedom to let everything else go. This preparation will equip you when spring emerges to continue your fresh start.

The process to stay the same or grow is inevitable, both in the seasons and the transitions and changes in our lives. Sometimes it is in the dark that we realize we can overcome hard things and light brings hope that dark passes with time. May you embrace the beautiful, unique you that you are. Let go of what was with anticipation of growth and refinement in the waiting period until new life blooms again.

What do you hope may bloom new in your life? In this new year?

Snowflake Wishes

My snowflake wishes are for you to remember:

You are unique.

You are seen.

You are appreciated.

You have a purpose.

May the subtle entrance of the snowflake remind you of your importance in this world. You were created on purpose for a purpose. The journey to find that purpose is life’s journey and mystery. No matter how small or big you feel your contribution may be, it has value. Embrace your purpose in all of life’s imperfections. In your imperfections, know that your unique self is like no one else. How beautiful. Go believe bigger in 2022!