December's Snow

It was blowing across the parking lot yesterday morning as I arrived at the gym at 5:30 AM.
White and powdery I could just make out the fine snow as it glistened in the headlights of my truck
Blowing in the wind but not really accumulating, ensuring I was aware that the cold December wind
Was bringing the snow which was falling on my windshield as I navigated the mostly deserted car park.

I reflected for a moment on how it was kind of pretty, like dust, or sand on the beach
But then I remembered how cold it was outside my warm, fully heated vehicle, twenty-something anyway
And the wind was whipping across the open areas--I could feel it slam into the truck on the overpasses
As I made my way to my appointed racquetball time at the gym and to start the day.

It was dark outside, but the stars peaked through the broken clouds and cast their cold light on the scene
I thought for a moment of a couple traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem some centuries ago
How cold it was, and how they huddled together for warmth and to protect their unborn child from the wind
I wondered if it snowed and if there was a warm fire outside their tent as they stopped for the night.

The wind whipped through my hair as I stepped out from the warmth and made my way to the building
I was shocked by how cold it was, this morning, but the stars in the sky were beaming down at me then
As they did on a night--so many years before, when the promise made to man by a loving God was fulfilled
When the birth of a small child, in a barn, off the beaten path of the world, changed everything for all time.