I was walking through the house this afternoon when I glanced out the window and … lo and behold, there’s deer tracks in the snow! Those weren’t there an hour ago.
And, ummm-hmmm … looks like she was headed for my bunchberry dogwoods!
I pulled on my coat and shoes and went to go investigate.
Sure enough, she came out of the woods from the direction behind me, and she was headed straight for my bunchberry dogwoods, just like I suspected!
Ummm-hmmm! … right through the middle of my bunchberry dogwoods!
Thankfully my bunchberry dogwoods were covered in a protective blanket … which kept them from getting nibbled on (this time).
I followed her tracks on across the gravel where we park the cars, and … ummm-hmmm! … there she stopped to nibble on my viburnum plant!
This poor viburnum plant … we planted it 5 years ago, but it is still the exact same size as it was when we first planted it. Every single winter every bit of new growth is nibbled off! The poor thing is stunted … but at least it’s giving it all it’s worth!
After nibbling on the viburnum, you can see the doe wandered on off into the woods beyond.
She wasn’t by herself. The older doe who usually hangs out with her never bothers with the bunchberry dogwoods. She knows better! And she didn’t even bother with the viburnum. She took a straight path across the gravel parking area directly towards the woods beyond.
Just from the tracks in the snow I know what type of animal it was; I know which direction they came from and which direction they were going.
Based on the tracks, I know they were two does … and I know exactly which two they were!
Based on the tracks, I know exactly where they each went, and I can tell exactly where they lingered to nibble.
Yesterday, as I was headed out the driveway to see the snowy sunrise first thing in the morning … lo and behold, there’s coyote tracks going down the driveway too! Check that out! That’s cool!
Oh wait a minute … there wasn’t just one coyote. Here’s a second set of coyote tracks just off to the left. You can tell exactly how big the coyote was based on the distance between his back paw-print and his front paw-print.
The two coyotes’ tracks crisscrossed this way and that as they neared the road.
When I reached the road, I turned to go right … while the two coyotes’ tracks turned to go left. I chose to walk in the tire tracks of the road (because it was easier) … whereas the coyotes chose to avoid the tire tracks altogether and instead walk in the fluffy snow off to the side.
As I was walking to see the sunrise the two coyotes weren’t actually there … but looking at their tracks in the snow it was as if I could see them plain as day and exactly what they were doing.
I walked out to the end of the road to enjoy the beauty of the snowy sunrise. The whole time I was keenly aware that I was leaving tracks in the snow too! There was only one set of tire tracks in the road so anywhere I stepped outside of the tire tracks it was totally obvious to anybody who passed by that I had stepped there.
It was totally obvious that I had paused here (as I stopped to take a photo of the sunrise) … then my tracks proceeded a little further on down the hill. And once again, it was totally obvious that I had stood here … for a while.
There was no doubt about it at all … my tracks in the snow left behind an exact detail of every step I took and every place I had paused as I watched the sunrise.
Not only that, on my way back I passed a bunny track in the snow!
The bunny had come from underneath the neighbor’s fence on the right side of the road and had hopped across the road into the bushes on the left side of the road.
In order to get this photo, I had to step out of the tire-track and step into the fresh powder. Once again, it was totally obvious that I had passed this way and that I had stopped and paused to examine the bunny track. Anyone passing by after me would know exactly what I had done.
I followed the tire-tracks back to my house … and when I reached my driveway, it was totally obvious that whoever had been walking in the snow (leaving all those footprints behind) they had come from this driveway right here! It was totally obvious to all our neighbors that I had been the one out walking in the snow!
There was no hiding it!
The tracks in the snow don’t lie.
I couldn’t help thinking of the verse: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:13
There are a lot of situations in life where we think no one knows what we are doing. These are private moments where we do private things. Nobody is around. Nobody sees. So of course, we think nobody will know.
Those things we do in “secret” and in private … they are like tracks in the snow! We are leaving behind a detail “in the snow” of our life. A very obvious path of what we are doing each day!
Even if nobody is around. Even if we think nobody sees and nobody will know … our “tracks in the snow” will be laid bare before God on the day we stand before him at the end of our life. And we will give an account for every “footprint.”
– We will give an account for “wandering through the bunchberry dogwoods” … or in other words, we will give an account for wandering into places and into things where we should not be.
– We will give an account for “nibbling on the viburnum” … or in other words, we will give an account for “nibbling” on things which we should not be “nibbling” on.
– It will also be totally obvious if we avoided temptations and sin and if we walked a straight path past it … like the second doe walked a straight path past the temptations.
– We will give an account for the friends we chose to hang out with … and what we did with them … just like the tracks in the snow of the two coyotes hanging out together.
– That “cold shoulder” we gave someone … that time we “ghosted” someone because we were bitter against them … that gossip we talked about someone behind their back … that thing we took which did not belong to us … that thing we lied about, which nobody knew was a lie … that thing we took credit for, which we did not actually do … etc. etc. …
“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” – Hebrews 4:13
What “tracks in the snow” are you leaving behind each day of your life?
