A Child's Cross Made Out of Snow

Yesterday afternoon around 3PM we gathered to say the Rosary. Outside the wind howled and snow swirled. We were in the middle of the "bomb cyclone".  As we described yesterday, the size and severity of this storm were considerable. While the kids had spent some of the day outside, an idea came just before starting the Rosary. 

The idea was to make a large Cross on our front lawn out of snow. Kostin, our 13 year old son, was so excited by this idea he could barely last through the Rosary. Light would be going quickly as the days are short in the winter and the temperatures were dropping.  Both our boys headed out. Kostin told Asher he would need help.The vertical tower went up fast. Watching from the window and seeing the wind I began to think I was watching a Jenga game. One after another buckets of snow were pilled on top of one another reaching to almost 7 feet. A step stool was even brought out.  It was with the last bucket at around 7 feet tall that the whole column went tumbling down. Oh, I thought nice try. But this would not deter the two. 

They were quickly back to making their column again. Water was added which quickly froze to help provide strength. The snow was very dry and would not stick together so water was needed.  Asher our 10 year old came in to reveal his gloves which had been dipped in the water now had icicles at the tip. His poor fingers were so cold. Work continued. The center column seemed stable but there was the question of how to  add the cross portion. Different attempts were made. One attempt with sticks did not work and caused a destabilized of the column and collapse.
Then Kostin had a clever idea. He rebuilt the column up to the level of where he would have the cross begin and taking a board he stuck it in a bucket of snow. He did this on both ends making a dumbbell shape. Then the two boys tried to lift it. They struggled together in the wind. It was a mighty feat to raise it up high enough. And then it was there in place. There was excitement but within moments it was down again. The board now was taken up by Kostin who beat it into the snow. The attempts went on well after dark. It was hard to believe they could stand the cold. Yet they did. 

But as 7PM came, the troops were tired. There was only a heap of snow...no cross. I encouraged Kostin that the following day he could try again. Indeed, with the new day he asked to go out and try again. This time he went out alone. The wind was so cold. After a long time of working he came inside. He wanted to show us the Cross he had made. It stood beautifully in front of our house. The sign in our window was also visible that said Christ is Born. I could not get over how cold it was when I went outside and could not believe he had been out for so long. After Asher took a few pictures, Kostin went to work with a new idea. 

He wanted to add rays to the Cross. He used icicles that had formed on the side of our house to make the rays. Kostin came to call us out again to see the final creation. It was just noon on the First Friday of the Month which seemed appropriate. As we stood in front of the house looking at this Cross a car went by and beeped. It was the priest from the Church near our house. We screamed and pointed at the Cross. We were so excited for someone to see it. 

There had been so much work...so many failed attempts in the cold and wind but perseverance had payed off. There was a beautiful pure white Cross that stood despite the beating wind that blew against it. The Cross had glistening rays of ice that came forth from the Cross harkening to Easter only a few months away and also to the Mercy of Our Lord. We took a moment to Consecrate this Cross to Jesus through Mary. It was a gift from the heart given with love. We sprayed the Cross with holy water we had for blessing our house. We wanted it to be a blessed Cross that might touch hearts. We prayed before the Cross for our family but also for all the members of the Children's Rosary. You were with us during this project. We are so excited to share this Cross made out of snow with all of you.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:

Bomb Cyclone

Celebrating Christ's Birth
A Countryside Transformed through Prayer
Don't forget to unify prayers with the children during their meetings. A schedule of meetings is present on our website. By clicking "Join in Prayer" you can add your gold flashing light to our View from Heaven map.

For more information about the Children's Rosary visit our website: www.childrensrosary.org
Visite nuestro sitio web en español para obtener más información: www.rosariodeninos.org