Ohhhh this snow coming down so hard and yet soft.

It doesn’t make a sound when it hits the earth and keeps piling up.

Indescribable.

This is my view in my back yard today.

This kind of snow falling always reminds me of the old hymn, “Whiter than Snow”, by Nicholson and Fischer.  Looking back into this old hymn book I got at the second hand store for 25 cents a while back….   It amazes me that many of these great hymns of faith were written and sung while my Great Grandma Maggie was a child, and then came across to America on the ship in the horrible snowstorm of the winter of 1889.

They shouldn’t have lived through that.  It was a miracle.

But there’s a reason that we are here.  Five generations later.  So we have a purpose that God wants us to fulfill.

This hymn was written by two men who lived during the time period of 1828-1912.  During that time, my Great Great Grandfather Cornelis deBruyn was taking his wife and seven children across the Atlantic in February in a blasting snowstorm.

Simultaneously, I imagine these two composers, sitting in front of their pianos and pieces of paper.  Writing and scratching notes out, humming and praying.  Maybe sipping coffee in front of their fireplace.  Not knowing how much a mother, over 100 years later, would appreciate their song.

When my family came to Iowa, they probably would have sung this very same hymn as I sing today.

The first two verses are:

“Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul; Break down every idol, cast out every foe;

Now wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow; Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies, And help me to make a complete sacrifice; I give up myself, and whatever I know,

Now wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow; Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Thank you for washing me whiter than snow.  And help me to make my life and all that I know, to be a complete sacrifice to you.  Only with your power Lord Jesus.

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