Snow Designs

There is nothing quite like waking up to a still calm, the sun's sleepy rays reflected off the branches of frosted trees. Imagination whispers in my ear that they are actually rock candy on big sticks. The brilliant blue sky and white snow create an ambiance of purity and freshness...and wonder.

G.K Chesterton said (he's just so quotable, you know) that "The world will never starve for want of wonders, but from want of wonder." He also said, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” Waking up to a crisp new morning with reminders of our awesome Creator, His purity, and Jesus' purity frosted over us like the snow crystals encrusting the bare bark of the trees, sure invokes gratitude and joy...doubled by wonder.

The snow brings to mind Isaiah 1:18,

“ Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “ Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool."

A wonderful promise.



















Did I mention it was pretty nippy? :)

Jan. 9th: Hannah's 14th Birthday

Hannah's birthday was 10 days ago. But here's the post nonetheless. :)


I was 6 1/2 when precious Hannah Grace King was born. Her sparkly eyes would disappear into little half-moons when she laughed. As she grew, she had blond curls that would bounce along behind her wherever she went. You could tell she wanted to be just like her 7-9 year old siblings when she grew up.

I have lots of good stories I could share, but I'm not sure if she'd appreciate it. Like the time Mom, Dad and baby Hannah went out to eat at a posh restaurant with Steeler's football player (now ESPN analyst) Merril Hoge, and she blew out her diaper all over her frilly white dress, and the nice linen napkins were used for something they were never intended for.

Hannah has always been a mini-mother. She prayed for a little sister since she was 4. Enter 3 little brothers. She loved them anyway, and they all slept in her room 'til we moved.

She liked her older siblings, even when we went through the embarrassing-photos-to-look-back-on times. We were out of our awkward stages before she ever got into them, and because she continued to imitate us, she never had an awkward stage. Hannah at 14 is stylish, classy, and non-awkward, unlike yours truly was at her age.



Hannah is generally undaunted and naturally creative. She will disappear in her room for a few hours and come out with a stellar crocheted beret from scratch, without a pattern, with a tiny matching beret for her fiddle. She began fiddling at 7, and hasn't stopped yet. She's won state champion in her division several times, and practices in the bathroom because of the good acoustics. She is very capable in the kitchen and a real teammate at clean-up; I don't know what I'll do if she gets married and moves out. ;)

But more than that, she's very mature in her walk with the Lord. Her first and middle names mean "Grace", and she personifies it with beautifully.

When I grow up, I want to be just like my little sister Hannah.