When we got back from Kenya in October, I discovered that the memory on my computer was so full that I couldn't download my photos so I have been diligently deleting photos that were stored in two places, organizing documents, and putting some downloads in the 'trash'. One of the documents I found was a talk I gave to the Young Women in our Ward about 10 years ago.
This week we had a snow day and more snow is expected so it seemed a perfect time to share my thoughts on snow and love! The photos are not from a snowstorm in Lonoke. Some are from Providence, Rhode Island and others from Port Deposit, Maryland, both places we lived when my Daddy was in the Navy.
"I love snow!!! I love the way it looks on the trees and shrubs. I love the crunchy way it sounds when you walk on it. I love the smell and the feel in the air….I love snowmen! When my children were little and we lived in Colorado, those snowy days seemed almost magical to me. Schools would be closed, Dads would be home from work and our neighborhood would become a fairyland of white, glistening snow filled with the excited voices of snowsuit clad children! In spite of all the damp mittens and coats and boots that littered my laundry room, those days were filled with fun. Snowmen! Hot chocolate and toasted cheese! Snow forts and snowball fights! I loved it! I always felt sad when it melted enough that the normal life of school and work started again.
I think my love of snow comes from growing up in Arkansas. In Lonoke, Arkansas it does occasionally snow. Lonoke is a small town.
When I was a child, the population was less than 2000. . Lonoke has no snow removal equipment, no snowplows, people don’t have chains for their cars, and most people have little or no experience driving in snow so when it snows in Lonoke, even an inch or two, the town essentially shuts down. No one goes to work, no one drives anywhere, school is closed….I remember the excitement of going to bed when it was snowing and wondering all night if it was just a little flurry that wouldn't stick or would it stick so the next day would be a snow day. Snow days yippee!!!
Last year I read this in a magazine
“Once, after dinner, my father hitched up the horse and took my mother and me for a sleigh ride. The winter stars were very bright. The sleigh bells made a lovely sound. I was bundled up to the nose, between my father and my mother, where nothing, not even the cold, could get at me. The very perfection of happiness. “ from Later Novels and Stories by William Maxwell.
This little paragraph brought back a memory so strong and clear that I could feel the moment in time.
During one of those rare Lonoke snowstorms when I was probably 8 or 9, my parents and I went for a walk down Court Street towards town. The snow was crisp and crunched under our feet. It was getting a bit dark so it was late afternoon. I remember that my mother had on the long brownish coat with a hood that I never liked once I was old enough to be concerned about my mother looking “cool” so that I would be “cool”. That day though I was just thrilled with the snow, with no school plus having Moma and Daddy both home during the day. I’m sure that the snowy roads had closed not only school but all other businesses. I was holding both of their hands and would slide along on the icy roads as we walked. Sometimes they would lift me up in the air ahead of them. It was cold but I felt like the man in the preceding paragraph…..safe “between my father and my mother where nothing, not even the cold could get at me. The very perfection of happiness.”
My father and mother are both dead now but I still can feel that same safety and peace because I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me. The YW theme starts out, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us…..”
President Uchtdorf spoke of this love so eloquently last conference….I don’t want to paraphrase his words but read them to you….I hope in your minds you can hear the distinctive accented voice of this prophet of God….
"Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.
God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.
He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.
What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."
It is my prayer that each of you young women that I love so much can feel the love of our Heavenly Father ….& that because of that love you feel safe where nothing, not the cold or sadness or depression can get you…..and that you feel the very perfection of happiness."
And today in 2024, that is still my prayer - that we all feel the love of our Heavenly Father and experience a moment of perfect happiness.
