Snowshoeing.......Yesterday I went on a snowshoe trek all by myself here in our mountain village. Now for fellow southerners you may not know for sure what the contraptions we call snowshoes are. We strap these long things (not skis) to our boots and with two ski poles we trek into deep snow. Now I have been told that they help you "float" across the snow. I think that may be some obscure snowshoe terminology. What I did certainly did not feel like floating. The snowshoes did keep from sinking to the bottom of the 40 or so inches of snow that we have but I did not glide like some snow angel across the top of the snow as floating seemed to imply.

After a bit I got the hang of it and began a random journey through the evergreens, around about the area finding myself following cross country ski tracks down to the Old Mill Site Park. I found a rhythm that was comfortable (although quite the cardio workout.)The deep snow has touched everything. The cold brisk air was full of the smell of the heavy laden evergreens. I could feel and hear my heart working in the silence of nature. It was exhilarating!

I found myself at the edge of a bank to the Crystal River being careful not to step too close because of the depth of the snow, it was hard to tell where the edge was. It was certainly not my intent to fall into the icy waters below! I stood there bundled up in layers of snow clothing, in the most awkward looking contraptions on my feet and listened.

I heard the running river. It had begun to snow again. There was not a sound of any humans around. I looked up to the mountain ridge called Raspberry Ridge. I breathed in the cold cold air. I breathed in God! My heart and soul cried out to Him in praise and wonder. I began to sing a heart song. It was a song of praise that has never been written. It was a melody that has never been played. And I am sure that if any living soul had heard it they would have been glad for those two facts. But I knew in that moment that God was pleased with my song because it was of the Holy Spirit; my spirit through the Holy Spirit was praising my Lord and the Father!

Jon preached today on Heaven meeting earth. It was about the scripture when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the "river." The Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and a voice from Heaven said "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." While snowshoeing yesterday I stopped, stood still long enough, was quiet long enough to allow Heaven to meet earth in my earthen vessel. I pray that I will continue to pause to breath in the breath that God is always waiting to breath into me.

"....the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Genesis 2: 7