Declaration In The Snow

It was a day to get together.
A day of reminiscing.
High school friends who reconnected after many years.
An intentional day on the calendar to assure that the time between visits is not too long.

We met at the place of gardens.
The place where spring can be enjoyed daily despite what the calendar says.
The place where tiny waterfalls and still ponds rejuvenate your spirit.
The place that smells like spring.

It was the season of orchids.
Despite over eight inches of snow on the ground, it was spring in the Conservatory.
Remarks of, it feels like we are in the rainforest, were heard again and again.
No one complained; the warmth of the sun shining through the windows was welcome.

Beauty was everywhere you looked.
Friends, now thirty-eight years removed from high school, renewing bonds from long ago.
We regretted that no one thought to bring our old yearbook.
We remembered so many names that were impossible to connect with a face.

Lunch was enjoyed, calories were forgotten, and years melted away.
There were remarks about time passing much too quickly.
There was the catching up on lives and children.
There was the promise of another day in a few months.

As we left the Conservatory to walk to our cars, something caught my eye.
At the end of the path that was cleared meticulously of any snow, I saw it.
A mound of snow at the end of the path had a message written on it.
Not a spray painted message but an actual message written by someone’s hand.

Someone had taken the time to carve out the letters in the snow.
Someone had decided to use a pile of snow to declare their love for someone special.
Someone had chosen to use the frozen snow to remind the person of their beauty.
I smiled at the sight and pointed it out to my friends.

I thought that with the cold temperatures that has kept the message intact.
I thought about the warming that is bound to happen and the melting that will follow.
When did this person write his declaration in the snow?
Has the frozen message been seen by the recipient?

Human love will melt after a while.
Human love will get distorted in the heat.
Human love is declared from the rooftop and lived out in the valley.
Human love requires sacrifice.

What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died, more than that, who was raised to life and is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 31-39)

God’s covenant love is enduring.
God’s love does not melt away.
God’s love does not diminish in the heat.
God’s love is not a declaration that is forgotten over time.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing separates us from the love of God.
Nothing diminishes God’s faithfulness.
Nothing negates God’s promises.
God’s love is limitless, timeless, and unconditional.

God wrote His declaration of love through human hands, guided by His Spirit.
God wrote His declaration of love not on snow but on parchment.
God’s declaration was written in blood.
The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, is the indelible ink of God’s love.

A declaration of human love can never compare to the declaration of God’s love.
God’s love is eternal.
God does not change His mind.
God’s declaration of love is secure, even when our love is shaky.

I imagined a declaration of love inscribed by the finger of God.
A declaration of love with our name on it.
A personal message to you and to me.
A declaration of love that never ends.

We should know, without a doubt, how very special we are to Him.
God has written His declaration of love to you and to me in His Word.
God’s declaration of love is permanent.
You can count on it.