A diamond day

Something miraculous happened the other night while I slept.

Someone sprinkled diamonds across my lawn!!

I know it sounds crazy, but while I snoozed and slumbered, cozy and snuggled warmly under my own mama’s hand-made quilt, next to my husband, who also had blissfully entered dreamland, someone crept into Mama and Papa’s empty nest yard and spread a glittering array of diamonds!

Some may surmise it was Suzy Snowflake or even Jack Frost who left this amazing gift.  I suspect it was collaboration between the two of them – snow meeting frost.  But I know who the Mastermind behind this gift truly is.

Snowflakes flurried the other day spreading their white, cottony blanket over our surroundings.  Grass completely covered, trees flocked, but roadways remained open and passable.   As evening approached and the sun journeyed its way to the other side of the world, the temperature dropped and while it didn’t actually create ice, it became frosty and a little slippery outside.

Tired from our day’s work, hubby and I settled down for our rest, expecting to see yet another winter’s day in the morning.  Upon awakening, I checked the weather report (our ‘Local on the 8’s’ via The Weather Channel) to see what the day would bring.  Strong sunlight already streamed in our bedroom windows, forcing its way under the unopened blind slats to demonstrate its might.

The forecast called for no expected additional snowfall, and I quickly prepared to leave for work.  I backed my vehicle out of the garage and immediately the sun blinded my vision, so I donned by trusty sunglasses.   About halfway up our long driveway, I suddenly stopped my car.  Stunned.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  I tore off the sunglasses and reached for my camera.

My yard sparkled.  My yard glistened.  My yard actually glittered! I felt as if this quote from an American motivational writer had literally come true – “You are, at this moment, standing right in the middle of your own ‘acres of diamonds.’” ~ Earl Nightingale

Diamonds!  My two and a quarter acre yard literally seemed effervescent.   Brilliant, intense sunlight beamed on the lustrous, frosted snow and created a dazzling effect.  I paused in my car and simply was astonished viewing the array laid out before my eyes.

I tried to capture this incredible sight with my point and shoot digital, but the photo I hoped to seize eluded me.  So my feeble attempt to describe this scene with words is the best I can accomplish.

Now before you question why I was so bedazzled by sunlight streaming on my snow-covered yard, let me explain that snow is no stranger to me.   I grew up here in the North where snow is an ever constant aspect of winter.

Simply put, winter equals snow in my point of view.   Deep, piled up forts of snow, dollops of snowy landscapes are normal in my neck of the woods.  Snow storms, snow squalls, whiteouts, flurries, what have you, I’ve seen lots of snow in my lifetime.

But two days ago in my book of Opportunity, snow stopped me in my tracks.   This frosted over snow reclining on my grass captured and imprisoned the sun’s luminous rays while creating gleaming gems seemingly deposited every inch or two across my yard.  It seemed like I could venture out into the vastness of white and pluck some radiant diamonds from the ground.

Either I have never viewed such a sight before, or in my hurry and haste, I have never taken notice.  Standing outside my car, aiming my camera at this magnificent miracle for the eyes to behold, the warmth of the sun kissed my face even while the cold wind whipped my hair into my eyes and stung, yet joy leapt in my heart.  Literally.

The words of an old John Denver song come to my mind as I write this.   “Some days are diamonds. Some days are stones. Sometimes the hard times won’t leave me alone. Sometimes the cold wind blows a chill in my soul. Some days are diamonds, some days are stone.”

Hard times befall every one of us humans.  Just this week, my heart wrenched at hearing of misfortunes and trials people I know are enduring.  They’re experiencing days that seem made of stone when the cold winter wind blows chill through their souls.

But our days don’t have to be stone days, even during the difficulties of this life on earth.  See the Mastermind, who granted me sight to see His gift strewn over my yard, promises us diamonds for stones.  He’s always there to care, to hold us up, to see us through, but we must stop, pause, acknowledge His presence, seek His help, and fully rely on Him.

Jesus, our gift more precious than diamonds, is the living stone spoken of in 1 Peter 2: 4-6.  “As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…For in Scripture it says:  ‘See I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

Jesus takes my days filled with stones and turns them into diamond days.  So when I feel burdened, like I am weighed down with the heaviest boulder,  I want to choose joy remembering that Jesus promised me He would always be with me through every moment of life.  Just as He promises to be with you if you believe in Him.

“Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” ~ Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:20, King James Version

The diamonds strewn across my front yard reminded me.

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