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There is something magical about the
first snow of the year. Somehow the
downy blanket transforms the mundane and
common landscape into a wonderland of
beauty. I remember the first time
several inches of the white stuff fell
during a home fellowship meeting at our
house. I was six year old, and upon
emerging from our meeting to say goodbye
to the good folks at Decatur Bible
Church, our yard had transformed in
those brief two hours with a quick 4
inch blanket of fluffiness. OH MY! I
had never seen anything like it. With
round eyed wonder I looked up at my
mother expecting the usual "time for
bed" and saw the same excitement on her
face. "Let's go get our winter clothes
on!" She said excitedly. She was
from the North and hadn't seen snow for
several years, so we all ran back inside
to bundle up and join our guests in an
hour of freezing fun. I remember the
constant laughing and giggles, the
surprise at how heavy the rolling snow
ball got as we tried to lift up the body
of the snow man, how stingy the snow
was when a snow ball exploded and fell
down my coat, and how crazy painful my
hands would get in my mittens! This
early childhood memory from northern
Alabama was the inspiration for my
newest painting where I wanted to depict
the wonder and excitement everyone has
when a fresh blanket covers over the
mundane mess of everyday life and
transforms it into something of beauty.
It reminds me of what God said to his
children through Isaiah "Though your
sins are like scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow" and makes me smile with
joy every time. I painted the magic
of this first snow, the evidence of the
creative and playful mind, and the joy
of returning to a fire and many laughs
so that you, too, can feel all "WARM and
COZY."
~ Mark Keathley
Summary Points:
1.
Inspiration for the painting came from
an early childhood memory in Decatur,
Alabama
2.
Look for a Snowman in the painting
3.
Look for a bluebird and some deer in the
painting
4.
Look for the snow angels the kids just
made
5. In
his early memory, both Mark and his Mom
were excited to see the snow
6. The
kids couldn't wait to play in the snow,
then couldn't wait to get inside to the
fire
7.
Look at the scriptural symbolism of the
snow. It covers the mundane of the ground
and makes it white. Just so, we
are made to be seen as being white as
snow when we take Christ's Robe of
Righteousness! |
