IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

Ice and Snow

Three of our four adopted, rescued puppies in the snow and ice! 

 

Link:   http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/2017/01/its-never-too-late-to-live-happily-ever.html

January 2017

The Kansas City metropolitan area is bracing for an ice storm, and the most dangerous time could very well be during the AFC Divisional Playoffs when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas city, Missouri, on  Sunday, January 15, 2017.  

The game was scheduled for the afternoon, but it has now been moved to an evening game because of the pending ice storm.  It is actually supposed to get warmer in the evening. 

LINK:  

http://nflspinzone.com/2017/01/13/steelers-chiefs-preview-prediction-afc-divisonal-playoff-2017/

 

Pearl Ming Zhu, was left in a puppy mill and rescued.  She weighed less than 2 pounds when we adopted her.  We fed her every two hours for the first weeks she was with us. 

Our snow-covered back deck.

Snow covered teak table on our back deck. 

Snow covered front sidewalk. 

Here's my blog from January 12, 2012.

 Thursday, January 12, 2012

 Snowflakes!

Our first measurable snowfall of the season (barely an inch) fell today in the Kansas City Metro area. 

What a difference from the Winter of 2011, when the snow was never-ending.  We couldn't even get out of our driveway last Christmas to go to my brother, Terry's house.

We've been blessed with several days of 50 - 60 degree temperatures in recent weeks.  I was able to plant about 50 new daffodil bulbs here at home under a new clump of river birch trees, and 400-plus tulip and daffodil bulbs in the new entry gardens at our church.

 I never thought I'd be praying for cold weather - but I have been. 

Wonder why?

A period of freezing weather is needed to force the almost 500 bulbs we planted into dormancy - or they won't bloom in the spring.  Bulbs develop roots before frost, but most bulbs need to experience  two months of cold dormancy before they resume their growth and flowering cycle in the spring.  

Planting bulbs is  like a special secret between God and me.  Miracles-in-progress under the snow-covered ground go unnoticed, until the warmth and sunshine of spring cause the cold dormant bulbs to grow and flower.

 

I was giddy with excitement when I peeked out my bedroom window and saw the snowfall that descended while I slept. 

 Snowflakes!

You can see them - touch them - taste them! 

They bring back memories of childhood....and playtime in the snow....and storybooks.

Remember Snow White? 

Snow White (illustrations of Franz Jüttner, 1905-1910)

Once upon a time a good queen sat sewing at her window, and pricked her finger on a needle.  Three drops of her blood fell on the snow that had fallen on her ebony window frame. 

She looked at the blood on the snow, and said to herself, " Oh! How I wish I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony." 

Soon after, the queen gave birth to a baby girl with skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony.  They named her Princess Snow White.  The queen died as soon as the child was born.  The king took a new wife - who was beautiful but very, very vain.  The story features the magic mirror, the evil step-mother queen, the poisoned apple, seven dwarves, a glass coffin, and the handsome prince. 

Who can forget (Say it with me now):   "Mirror, mirror....on the wall - who's the fairest of them all?"

 The mirror's reply?

"Snow White!"

Snow White's story is not to be confused with another of my childhood favorites:  Snow-White and Rose-Red. 

Snow White and Rose Red by Jessie Wilcox Smith, 1911

Snow-White and Rose-Red lived with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage.  Both sisters were good little girls who loved each other dearly, even though they had totally different personalities.  Their story features a bear who comes knocking on the door of their cottage and finds friendship and shelter;   a wicked dwarf;  and of course a handsome prince and his brother who end up marrying Snow-White and Rose-Red...and they all live:  (Say it with me) "Happily ever after!"

It's never too late to live happily ever after...even for you and me.

We understand through our own experiences that bad things happen to good people.  We encounter evil and wicked people in our everyday lives. Sometimes we are the wicked ones.

Yet - God comes to us where we live;  lights our path and offers us His free gift of forgiveness and salvation.  He gives us a choice: 

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you

 that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.

Now choose life, so that you and your children may live,

and that you may love the Lord your God,

listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.

For the Lord is your life,

and he will give you many years

in the land he swore to give to your fathers,

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 30: 19-20

There are thorns in our rose gardens, but He promises to be with us in those troubled times. 

He redeems us by the blood of an innocent lamb, Jesus.  

He makes our mess our message to a hurting world. 

Now that's a true story with a happy ending!

It's never too late to live happily ever after!

"Come.  Sit down.  Let's argue this out."

This is God's Message:  "If your sins are blood-red, 
they'll be snow-white.

If they're red like crimson, they'll be like wool."

 Isaiah 1:18
The Message Bible

Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
and don't go back until they've watered the earth -

Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,

producing  seed for farmers;

and food for the hungry.

 Isaiah 55:10

The Message Bible 

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend!

 

Mary Marcia

America's STORYTELLER

Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking