Did you Look Outside on Sunday?

I took some photos on the way to church yesterday...and after church...and throughout the day because – well – that’s what I do. While I’ve been writing today, these images kept crowding out my thoughts so I figured I’d post them here for your enjoyment. Why should I have all the nice views?

Sunday at 9:30 am, a brilliant sun belied the fact that the temp was -11C/+12F. If you look at the photo, it doesn’t look like the sun was shining, but it was. The wind was whipping from the northwest at 50 km/h (31 mph), mostly low to the ground, but every once in awhile I would drive through a whiteout situation. This photo was taken south of Glenavon on Hwy 709 heading east.

Two hrs later, I took the next photo. Because I was standing on the southeast corner of the church, I wasn’t getting snow whipped at me but my fingers were tingling after just 6 photos. I love this photo. I’ve seen this view since December but didn’t think about it until last week. Frank, a member of our church, is blessed with artistic skills and made the bulrushes and tulips from metal and wood to dress up the barren church yard. Last fall, by the time anyone remembered to pull them up, they were stuck in the frozen ground. Then the wooden nativity scene, also made by Frank, was ‘planted’ in Dec in the optimum spot for our viewing pleasure. Everyone passes this scene heading into church and the area is lit at night.
When I look at this scene, I am filled with peace. An apt title would be ‘Birth & Rebirth’ because you have the birth of Jesus and the return of spring.

This photo was taken at 6 pm Sunday. My boys went down to the barn to do chores. Then the youngest came running back to tell me a sundog made it look like there were 3 suns in the sky. He was right. I took the photo from my steps, facing west. It’s one of those sights that make a person believe in the amazing power of God.