"Signs, Snow angels, Snowmen, and Hope... even in Texas"

I'm sure everyone here in Texas that received the pre-Christmas miracle of last night's snowstorm was blessed and amazed by it.  I know we were here at our house.  Last night I posted pictures of the Texas "blizzard", the gorgeous blanket of pure white snow that resulted from it, and the special heart shaped holes where the grass was still peeking through in our back yard. 

Then, we awoke to a Winter Wonderland this morning (and a treasured two hour school delay:). 

Then, as if that wasn't enough, as I walked out to the car, this lone orange flower was peering through the rocks of our front pathway, against a fully blanketed 3 acre yard of snow. 

I knew instantly that it was yet another sign from our angel Rowan. 

I had a lot of plans today, but that beautiful orange flower made me push them all back an hour or two, because I knew immediately that I wanted to drive out to the cemetery after taking Ian to school, to see what it looked like covered in snow.  I was afraid to go after all my appointments and errands, because as we know, this is Texas, and our Narnia-like snowfall could be gone in mere hours, if not faster.

When I arrived at the cemetery, in the already gorgeous hill country setting, my breath was taken away.  It was so serene, so pure, so heavenly.  I was the only one there.  There were no footprints yet.  There was only a cloud-like cover of pristine white snow covering the entire grounds.  I cried instantly.  I felt like I was seeing what heaven looks like.  When I got out of my car, I felt like I was actually there.

It wasn't actually snowing anymore, but the wind was blowing the snow from the large trees, making it "flurry" down all around me. 

I went to Rowan's grave first of course. 

I cleaned up his marker a bit, thought about what this must look like from Heaven, and prayed that he was enjoying the view.  I wished he was there with me to make snow angels.  I remembered how he had "go somewhere where the snow is up to my knees" as one of his bucket list items.  Of course we didn't get THAT much snow, but it made me smile to think about it anyway.

I visited each of his friends sites that are also buried there, and I messaged their parent's pictures of their children's resting places, covered in snow too.  I knew they would love to see how heavenly it looked too, how peaceful.

I drew a heart in the snow at Olivia's grave and sent it to her Mom and Dad. 

Her Mommy messaged me back that her sister had wanted to skip school this morning to go build snowmen for them.  That inspired me.  So I made a personalized snowman for each of them.

Rowan's of course had a heart shaped leaf on his chest.

Olivia's had a leaf for a bow, because she was never without a bow in her hair.

Justin loved spider man, so I tried to carve a web on his snowman's chest (but it was melting so fast it's hard to see).

Cristabella's was a little baby snowgirl, swaddled in a blanket, because she was so very young when she passed.

The hearts in the snow last night, the single orange flower in my yard this morning (that survived the rare Texas snow storm), those were all wonderful, welcome signs...but the peace and love that I felt in that small cemetery in the Texas hill country this morning, alone in the snow... that was more of a miracle than any of it.  I felt the closest thing to happiness, the nearest thing to joy, that I have felt in over a year.

Thank you Rowan. 

Thank you Olivia. 

Thank you Justin. 

Thank you Cristabella. 

Thank you to all of Rowan's many other angel friends, buried elsewhere. 

Thank you Jesus... Thank you God...

for signs,

snow "angels",

snowmen...

and "Hope"...

even in Texas!