This time last year, we were having an ice storm. This year, we have had ice, and about 9 inches of snow. When we were schooling at the dining room table on Friday, we looked out the window, and there was a cardinal perched in our tree in the back yard in the falling snow. I just had to capture the beauty of Gods creation in the midst of the storm.

I am constantly reminded of His provision when I see birds. When Conner was just a baby and was so sick for a few years, I would always think about the Bible verses in Matthew 6:25-30.

The Cure for Anxiety

25 "This is why I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: they don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don't labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30 If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't He do much more for you—you of little faith?

When there were days that I wanted to cry out to God and beg and plead for the health of my child, He would gently remind me of how He provides for the birds, and how much more He loves His children.

As I shopped at the grocery store to gather food to stock our pantry for this storm, I watched people scurry to fill their baskets with "necessities," and I was once again reminded of how we do our best to provide for our wants and needs, and yet our lives are His. He is our Creator, Provider, and Father, Jehovah Jireh. We don't know what each day will hold, and yet He does.

I had no idea, nor could I have planned to prepare that during this storm, one of my boys would get the chicken pox. Yet, God still provided a wonderful doctor, medicine, and time off from school for him to recover.

Lord, I am reminded daily, and am especially thankful for your provision, love, and mercy during the storms in our lives.