Support

I have now been rebitten by the snowshoeing bug. I went out again this afternoon fr abut 1 1/2 hours. I trekked over the field and down into the woods beyond. My dog Regal was having a ball running on the snow. Being light enough she just skimmed the surface of the snow supported by the icy crust below the surface. before I get totally into the gist of this post I do have to relate a story. When I got down to the bottom of the access road to the wood lot, I noticed some old moose tracks, and wanting to get a picture of the depth of the snow for Anya, at college I put one pole into the hoof print and another pole even with the surface of the snow to show her the approximate depth of the snow in the woods. I looked up and Regal was gone so I whistled and called for her. Just then I heard a nise of branches snapping and turned around just in time to see a large brown shadow about 50 feet away moving off into the woods. The moose who made the tracks had made his appearance. I snowshoed down to where I had seen him and found an obviously fresh pile of his leavings still partially steaming, and a spot where he had obviously lain down in the snow. When my breathing evened out I could hear him off in the background crashing through the branches in the woods. Regal heard him too, and was not to eager to leave my side.

Now for the main reason for my post, as I have a penchant for and as the three pastors who preach at my church often say, I am always looking for illustrations to base my writings and musings on as they are always looking for sermon illustrations. During this trek out through my field, and on into the woods I was noticing how well the snowshoes held me up on some of the deepest snow we have had in a long time. They would sink down briefly into the soft powder on top but the overall size of the snowshoe and the webbing would keep me up on the surface of the snow. If I did not have them on I would be breaking through not only the powdery layer but also the crusty surface underneath and buried in snow most likely up past my knees. I would tire out very easily, and most likely not get very far. With the snow shoes I would be able to just sink briefly into the powder but the snowshoe would spread my bulky weight out over the entire expanse of the shoe and support me on the crust underneath. Occasionally I would crack the crust but not sink very far into the snow at all.

The illustration I found this supports is my walk with Christ. My belief in God is like the snowshoe. He keeps me buoyed up in the quagmire of life's trial and tribulations. I break through the surface of the muck of life, but with God's support through my belief in Christ helps keep me from getting bogged down like being stuck in quicksand. Our lives are not completely trouble free, and God does allow us to get into scrapes and situations, but belief in Him does help support us form getting bogged down in the mire of despair that we could be. He is the snowshoe that keeps us on the surface and traveling down the path. In a note written by Sue Dorian thanking people for their support after the passing of her dear husband Paul, she noted that she could rejoice in his passing because she knew through her belief tat Paul was with God in heaven, but on the earthly side there was a void in her life now that could never be filled. Her belief in Christ is keeping her from getting to mired down in the snows of life, that our earthly bodies can find ourselves