Ah my loves… I have abandoned you, no?

No!

Bren and I are back from our holiday in North Carolina. Man, was it good! And I almost feel bad talking about it, ‘cos it seems so many people had a difficult holiday in 2009: heartbreak, family illness or heck, just wanting the struggles of 2009 to be over already. If that was you, I feel for you, and I’m so sorry. But don’t give up hope; God is ALWAYS at work!

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28

Both Bren and I are bubbling over with positivity for 2010. Partly because it sounds oh-so futuristic. (Doesn’t it though? Say it! 2010. Come on! Don’t images of galactic fashion and silver lipstick flash before your eyes?!).

Sadly, since our camera died, I have only few photos to show you, courtesy of Bren’s mum’s phone. How I wish I had more! Every year, we go stay with Bren’s family at their house at the top of a mountain in the Smokies… it’s the tiniest town, whose downtown is small enough that if you had a coughing fit, you’d miss it. At the house, there’s no cable TV, no internet access, no cell phone access… just you and a near 360-degree view of the Smokies. That view never fails to remind me how very small and powerless I am; every year I find myself saying, yeah ok, dear God. I get it. You’re amazing. Nothing I can do comes close to the majesty you have created here. Stop showing off, ok?!

Thankfully, God gets the joke every year. At least I think He does. That, or He just goes very quiet. Heehee!

This year in particular, God’s hand took my breath away. As we approached the town, we noticed a little snow on the ground, which is pretty unusual. No matter how much Bren and I pray for snow every year, we are always disappointed.

Ooooh-wheeee boy! This year made up for all the past years of sunny, dry Christmas’es! There was at least a foot of snow on the ground, so much that we couldn’t get the car all the way up the mountain to the house. We walked up to the house, opened the windows, and took in the view:

Then we bundled up and went out to explore the gorgeous-ity outside. I can’t think of the words to describe the beauty. It was a picture-perfect winter wonderland… untouched white snow, no footprints anywhere except for deer, and the hush! Oh the hush! I love how snow muffles all sound.

I’ll be honest. At first, I was kinda annoyed at the beauty around me, because everywhere I looked, I was met with another flawless scene of winter radiance. My brain couldn’t compute! Every bare tree was coated in snow, and you could tell that this amount of snow was out of the ordinary because the trees were bent over with the extra weight!

I know, I’m so ungrateful. Heehee!

In the following days, I built my first snowman, had my first snowball fight and sledded for the first time. It was so much fun! I love that I grew up in the desert, because whenever I encounter snow, I feel like a little kid!

-x-
aarti