The Snowstorm!

      We weren't expecting any snow until Monday evening, so when we woke up Monday morning to find a winter wonderland outside we were pleasantly surprised. We don't often get snow at our elevation. We are teased with the forecast of it now and again, but seldom does it materialize. So we don't really take the weatherman seriously until we actually see it with our own eyes. Well, this time we saw it.

Day 1 - The snow came and it was beautiful!

"Make a snowman, quick before the snow melts!"

                   

Mr. Snowman

I rolled him in a big round ball,

Then added snow to make him tall.

I gave him button eyes to see,

So he could look right back at me.

"Something was missing," I did suppose,

And thought to add a carrot nose.

Stickly arms of walnut wood,

Seemed to do the job they should.

A scarf and hat, now I'm done,

Making a snowman - oh what fun!

Day 2 - "It is going to melt, isn't it?"

Making a sled-run on the hill

A Snow Ride

Snowy flakes dance in the air,

Calling children everywhere.

"Put on your boots, hat, and coat,

Run outside with sled in tote.

Right out back to find a hill,

One awaiting, white and still.

Steep enough to bare the task,

Perfect ride, not slow, not fast.

Nipping wind against your face,

Swiftly by the trees you race.

To the bottom first - you win!

Climb the hill and start again.

Day 3 - "Burr...I'm ready for the power to go back on - really, I'm ready...please!"

      We were without power for three days and couldn't drive out our steep road because of ice. Around day three, the - I've had enough camping - feeling began to creep in and take over me with something I refer to as "The Mood." God must have noticed I was having a melt-down faster than the snowman outside and He had mercy on me. At 9:30 PM, just as I was about to head for the freezing bedroom and call it a day, I heard the refrigerator motor turn on...power! I blew out the candles and started flipping on switches, just because I could. It felt good! Like being back in civilization.

      I have a new appreciation for all those things I have taken for granted, like electricity and heat. Just the conveniences of flipping on a switch to light a room and reaching into a refrigerator to get something cold are blessings I enjoy every day and yet I seldom stop to thank God for them. I also seldom stop to think of those who do not have those luxuries, and how hard life must be for them.

      The day before it snowed, I remember seeing a man at the gas station wrapped in blankets. It was apparent that he was homeless. I remembered that I had two pairs of gloves in the car so I started rummaging around looking for them. When I finally found them, he was gone. The thought of him or anyone being out in that cold weather haunted me, but I'm afraid it did not bother me enough. Not enough to leave my warm safe car and go look for him. Not enough to see beyond the unpleasantness of a man in filthy clothes or smelling like alcohol - to the man inside who was cold. Or enough to see beyond how he got to that place in life and pray against the strongholds that held him prisoner there.

      I want to care enough about my fellow man to ask God what I can do to help, and not act like I didn't hear Him when He answers me with something I find hard to do. And to remember daily that everything I have and anything I have to offer others, all come to me first from the hand of a generous and loving God.