The fingerprints of God are everywhere in this world, yet it is easy for us to overlook God's handiwork that He puts on display.  Or maybe better said, I know that it is realIy easy for me to ignore His handiwork. I find that I often get into a routine and overlook His goodness in my life. Therefore, God puts reminders in my life probably with the hope that I will pay attention. 

The winter of 2016-2017 was pretty mild, for the most part. However, in January we had a small ice storm. It didn't do any damage in our area, but that ice storm created a calm, beautiful scene for a few hours. My wife and I threw on our winter jackets and headed outside with our phones and her super fun Olloclip. If you aren't familiar with the product, the Olloclip has both macro and wide angle lens that snaps overtop your phone's camera. With the lens, we were able to capture some interesting perspectives of the ice formations. The ice formation above is smaller than the tip of my pinky finger. However, the lens was able to capture some beautiful "fingerprints." 

As I was snapping shots that day, different verses were popping into my mind about God's love as displayed in the act of creation and His care for us as His image bearers. His fingerprints can be seen all over the planet. And even though this earth groans (Romans 8:22) as a result of our sin, His care for the details of life is still evident when we pay attention. I have found that for me, a good practice is to try to think each day of a specific way that God displays Himself.  On January, 16 2017, He displayed His hand in creation through an ice storm. Below I have listed some passages for reflection that remind us that God really does care for us, even though the world around us doesn't always seem to give us that assurance. You can also check out the rest of the pictures here. 

• In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  Psalm 102:25 (NIV) 

• “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”  Revelation 4:11 (NIV)

• Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them;  male and female he created them. 

  God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 

  Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Genesis 1:26–31 (NIV)

• The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17 (NIV)

I want you to meet McClain. He is my ten year old son. He has a wonderfully perfect mom, a beautiful thirteen year old sister, an adventurous sidekick twin brother, and a five year old brother who idolizes his every move. He is all boy--clever, funny without trying to be funny, a super hard worker, a geek for all things Star Wars, a lover of Legos--especially Star Wars Legos, a dirt-digger and outdoor enthusiast. He is also a Christian and wants others to know how Jesus has changed his life. To get to the point, McClain is also a pretty bright kid. No one in our family is a rocket scientist, but we make our way through the world.  That is what brings us to the heart of this short bio. 

Early on in McClain's academic career, first grade to be exact, we noticed that McClain didn't seem to be able to easily sound out or remember words as he was reading. He was also having great difficulty with reversing letters and spelling words incorrectly. My wife, being a teacher, picked up on this early. For the next couple of years, McClain spent time doing extra work trying to learn to read with different programs at school and at home. His hard work was met with little success. I mentioned that he was a hard worker, but it didn't matter how much or how hard he worked. Reading just never clicked. Often times, he would forget a word just a few words after he had read it.

At the same time McClain was being tutored, my wife did a lot of research on different possibilities. Being a teacher, she had an idea that it could be dyslexia, but we couldn't know for sure. Fortunately, we are blessed with fantastic teachers and staff at our elementary school that helped us search out explanations for McClain's difficulty with reading and encouraged us to get McClain tested. 

So in March of 2014, we were able to load up and head to Iowa City to see one of the top specialists for dyslexia and dysgraphia. After eight hours of intense work and testing for McClain, we learned that he did indeed have both dyslexia and dysgraphia. This diagnosis was a huge relief for our family. We were now able to know that McClain's brain processed information differently and could jump on a path of how we could best help him learn to read and write. Because of this diagnosis and a lot of hard work, McClain now reads with ease at his grade level. He also has tools in place to make writing assignments doable. 

The video above was created at the request of McClain's elementary school for use in a training seminar. We want to share it with you in case you find yourself in a similar situation. We hope you enjoy it.