Approximately 5 Trillion Snowflakes

   Yesterday morning I came to the realization that the phrase "2 hour delay" has a unique ability to continuously excite me despite my increasing age. Although my excitement over snow days of any kind is probably more subdued than it was in my childhood, it is one thing that has remained the same throughout my life. Snow days in general have always felt special to me. I just love the fact that despite all of the things we humans have accomplished and the power we feel that we have, sometimes we just have to stop everything because there's snow falling from the sky, and there's not much we can do about it. It's like a silent but significant reminder about who's really in control.
      Although I may hesitate at my age to admit it,  I have never stopped being amazed by the fact that no two snowflakes are alike. Since the beginning of time, in every snowstorm in every time period in every place in the world, every single snowflake has been unique. At the risk of having to do unnecessary math, I'm just going to call that "a lot of snowflakes" Probably more than 5 trillion, I think. Numbers make me nervous, so

Shamelessly over-edited picture of the small amount of snow that inspired this post.

let's move on. Knowing that God has created snowflakes so intricately and uniquely, even though they melt away after a short period of time, makes me realize that everything he does is intentional. Like a snowflake, I am designed in a specific way for a specific reason, even if I don't understand what that reason is yet.
     As I grow older, I sometimes forget, or don't allow myself, to take time to be exited by simple things like snow days. But when I really stop and think about it, I realize that these things that seem so simple are really the things that make life exiting. After all, you're never to old for a 2 hour delay!