Thursday, December 22, 2011

Just around the corner

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."
Isaiah 9:2

When we moved to Nashville in 2009, we started the tradition of going to the Opryland Hotel to see the Christmas lights. This year we went to see the ICE exhibit at Opryland, featuring the characters from Madagascar. We bundled up in the provided blue parkas and ventured into the sub-freezing zones. It was quite amazing to see the characters and scenes chiseled in ice. By the time we reached the "ice slides" I was frozen and left the sliding to the rest of the family!

As we neared the end, I braced myself for the unavoidable and overwhelming "gift shop" that awaited just around the corner beyond the exit. However, when we entered, I was stunned to see this:

Beautiful Christmas music was playing and it took me a few seconds to orient to the display before me. Tears stung my eyes and time stood still for a few moments. Instead of the chaos of a gift shop, I was surrounded by ice figures depicting the miracle and beauty of Christ.  


I am not sure exactly what it was that caught me off guard. Perhaps it was seeing a display of the things of God in an unexpected setting. Maybe it was experiencing peace when I fully expected chaos. However, just around the corner, when I least expected, I found a a gift of Presence that I will not soon forget.

Katie and I in our lovely blue parkas!



1 comment:

Unknown said...

I am visiting from Linny's Christmas visit post. We went to Opryland hotel last year after Christmas. It was an amazing place and we loved the lights and the Nativity on the grounds of the hotel. We hope to come back to Nashville more often as our son plans to transfer to a college there next fall.