The Snowflake

I was thirty-five years old when I saw my first snowflake. Of course I had heard all my life how snowflakes were these one of a kind six pointed wonders, but it never dawned on me growing up that I had somehow missed this. Maybe it was because I grew up 20 miles from New York City where the pollution probably renders perfect snowflake production near impossible, but none of this even occurred to me at the time. Fast forward about 25 years. There I was one winter in Norway. I happened to be outside while it was snowing and then it happened. There on my jacket sleeve lay a perfect, tiny, beautiful, just born snowflake! I was mesmerized by it's beauty and I ran inside where I was staying, saying, "Look! A snowflake!" I guess the Norwegians probably thought that was pretty funny! From then on snowflakes took on an extraordinary new meaning for me, but sometimes I can't help but wonder, how did I miss this?

Now let me tell you another story. I was 19 and studying in France. One day, while sitting in a cafe with a friend, a young man walked up to me and handed me a small tract. I invited him to sit down for coffee and we got into a very interesting conversation that lasted for four hours. He was a Christian missionary, traveling around France with some friends. Each carried what few belongings they owned in backpacks as they hitch-hiked around the country going from town to town sharing their faith with other young people. Now me, I was not religious at all. I had grown up in the States and came from a "Christian culture" more or less, so I had heard about Jesus but I must confess I didn't grasp His significance at all. I don't know, but I guess I just missed it somehow. This young man was different from the Christians I had met in the States. That night, back home to my little apartment, I couldn't shake this encounter from my mind. I felt like I had been hit by lightning! You see, even though I didn't understand the Christian jargon, somehow I knew in my heart that what this young man had shared with me was the truth.

They were staying in town, so I spent as much time as I could around them. My heart told me this was real but my mind couldn't accept it! Then one day, they had to go back to Paris. I had never prayed in my life, but I knew what I had to do. I prayed a simple little prayer asking Jesus to come into my heart and that prayer changed my life. I do not know exactly how it happened but I wanted the life my friends had too. They had given everything up to tell others about Jesus, and I wanted that too. If you had suggested that I would one day become a Christian I would have laughed you to scorn. But after that prayer, I had peace in my heart and it was something I knew I had to share with others.