A Non-Snow Day

    They had been calling for a wintry mix, and all bets were that school would be cancelled for the day.  Sure enough, when I woke up this morning and checked the news, Roanoke County Schools were closed.
    At the time of my awakening I could hear sleet pinging off of the siding and onto the sidewalk, then when I went downstairs to check on the conditions, it began to rain.  Not freezing rain, just rain.  With these non-impending conditions in place, I got up and started my day.  Within an hour the rain had stopped, and but for moisture lingering in the cold air, all is well – A Non-Snow Day.
    It reminds me of when I was in school in Durham, NC, and there was a chance that we were going to receive an inch and a half of snow the next day.  By 6PM the kids had already been informed that there would be no school but to stock up at the grocery store.  We woke up to no snow, not even rain.  Instead, we enjoyed a beautiful 55 degree, sunny day.
    Now I don’t mean to get the school superintendents upset, as I know there are multiple factors that go into making the hard decision of calling a snow day, nor would I desire to be the one making the decision.  Add to that the fact that this particular county has mountains and hollers which cause for different weather activities in different communities, and it makes it tricky, but it is an interesting thing for the kids to be out for a snow day with no snow.
    I guess if we were to look at the two extremes of the situation, we could remember the phrases “better safe than sorry” and “leave caution to the wind.”  One leans toward the strong possibility of danger and interruption, while the other simply takes no precautions but hopes nothing bad will happen.  And yet, so often in life, in fact I would say MOST often in life, we land somewhere in the middle.

    I invite you sometime to pick up your Bible and turn to the twelfth chapter of Luke’s Gospel.  It’s a rather odd chapter.  It begins with warnings against hypocrisy and an encouragement to the disciples to keep the faith, then Jesus tells a story of a Rich Man who just keeps building so he’ll have room for all his “stuff,” then He turns it back on them (us) saying, “do not worry about anything.”  Then it shifts to a whole conversation about being watchful and prepared, but THEN Jesus throws out that He’s going to cause strife and division between family members.  THEN He says, “watch the clouds, read the weather, because you’ll know what’s coming if you do.”
    There are some passages where one reads them and wonders, “Was Jesus having a bad day?  Was his mind simply racing from one thing to the next?  What’s his point?”  This is one of those.  He seems to be pinging all over the place, and yet underneath it all, there is one simply message.  Inserted into the pockets of emotions and feeling is subject matter centering around how to navigate life, mainly that the invitation is given for us to focus on and trust in God.  That if we do, all will be well.
    That is, if we focus on God and strive to follow, then hypocrisy flies out the window and we live in faith.  If we keep our eye on the prize, then we don’t need all the stuff, and we won’t worry...or at least worry as much.  That when we seek Christ’s Kingdom, then we align ourselves with the right priorities, despite what family and friends think, and it even means that we are able to predict the “weather” around us and navigate the peaks and valleys more effectively.

    On this “Non-Snow Day” I can’t help but think about how often we get things wrong.  How we make the wrong predictions, or read the signs around us incorrectly, then how easy it is to get lost.  We can get lost in despair, lost in ourselves, lost from the realities of life, lost in fear, lost from security...the list goes on, but the lostness is real.
    However, the message that we have heard over and over again, and even experienced, is that the lost get found.  That the Non-Snow Day, and even the snow days...and perfect days...come and go, but God is always with us.  The key is to turn to Him, to trust, to follow, to journey with the One who already took the path for us.  When we do, God makes a way.
    This is a comforting message at any time, but it is even more assuring during the season of Lent, when we are invited to look toward the aspects of our lives where we don’t trust, where we don’t see, where we don’t follow, then ask God to lead and change us.
    In a way, this season is a "schooling season".  Despite our desire for a snow, or even a “non-snow” day, God's hope is that we'll allow ourselves to be schooled by Christ.  And yes, it takes work.  It requires effort, but the result and blessing is that when we trust and allow ourselves to be schooled by God, the weather of our lives really doesn’t matter.  Instead, we realize WHAT matters, and we are blessed by and through such faithful living.


What are the snow day/non-snow day aspects of your faith walk?  How are you being invited to trust more?  What Lenten disciplines have you included in your life which will shape and bless you, so that you might be a blessing to the world?

Hiking with a Five Year Old

    Saturday was the first snow of the season, and by and large there was little accumulation.  The result was mostly just wet leaves and roads, except for at the higher elevations. 
    My children were ecstatic during the snow and ate more than their fair share, but they were a bit disappointed when so little remained in our yard.  What made it worse, however, was that we live about 2/3rds of the way up the mountain, and the top 1/3rd was white.  Snow on the trees and ground, visible from our home, and visible from the valley below.  The houses on the mountain produced enough head to melt the snow off quickly, but above the houses, a child’s white gold remained.
    Knowing this, and knowing that my daughter loves to go hiking, I suggested that we take a hike.  I assumed she’d just want to head up to our favorite rock across the street and up.  Instead, she said, “Let’s go to the rocks on top of the mountain!”  Always up for an adventure, I said, “Sure,” with the caveat that if she got tired, I would not carry her on my shoulders.  Not only would she get me all muddy with her boots, but the snow and leaves would be slippery under my feet.  She agreed that she’d keep going, IF we could rest when she needed to.  After the negotiations I agreed, then promised to hold her to her end of the bargain.
    I packed snacks, water bottles, and a camera.  We got our coats, gloves, and boots on, and we headed out.  I drove us up to the trail head, and we headed up, walking sticks in hand, and eyes and hearts open for whatever came.
    Now my daughter is five years old, and I’m not sure how many of you have hiked with a five year old.  To put it mildly, it can be tedious.  Fun, but tedious.
    The trail on which we were hiking is a trail that I run often.  The full trail is about 4.5 miles, and it takes me between 40 and 50 minutes to run it, depending on conditions.  The section of the trail that we hiked was about a third that distance, and it took us 2 hours!
    We’d walk about 100 feet and Anna would stop to look at the moss on a rock or look at a tree.  She’d move a bit further than stop to ask me a thousand questions.  We’d move up further and she’d pick up some snow to eat or throw or simply examine the handful for individual snowflakes.  Did I say that hiking with a five year old can be tedious?
    Now I can be a bit “type-A” at times, and it is at times such as these that I can find myself going crazy!  “Come on, Anna,” I’d say.  We’d move a bit.  “Come ON, Anna,” I’d say again.  And the further we didn’t move up the mountain, the more I found myself frustrated...until I caught myself.
    After all, it was my day off from work.  The objective was to be together and explore rather than accomplish a task, which by the way is, or at least should be, the point of hiking!  And as the proverbial two by four hit me in the head, my whole perspective changed.  My whole demeanor changed.

    Instead of focusing on upward movement, I focused on the movement of my heart as my daughter taught me how she sees the world.  Instead of focusing on forward progress, I focused on the simple blessing of experiencing life with one who is excited to be alive.  Instead of focusing on a goal I let focus go and allowed myself to simply be in that time and space, absorbing the gift of time, beauty, and love that God had given me for just a time as that.

    We made it to the top to find a blanket of two inches of snow.  We kept going on the trail, stopping to enjoy the views, take pictures, and avoid the low hanging, snow-covered branches.  Until we made it to an outcropping of rocks.  There we took some time to marvel at the valley below us...and build a snowman...AND have a snowball fight! (Boulders make such great barriers behind which one can hide!)  We had a great time.

    As we made our way back to the car, I couldn’t help but remember that this is Advent.  It’s a time to watch, wait, and simply “be”.  A time to absorb/receive whatever God gives us, then give thanks.  In doing this, God knows that we’ll see things differently, experience life in a new way, maybe even be changed, if just a little, to be more receptive to whatever comes.  In doing this, we prepare ourselves to see and receive the gift that comes.  In doing this, we see and receive Christ.
    Today...hiking with a five year old...I experienced Advent in a new and powerful way.  What a gift!  What a blessing!  What a God!

When was the last time you were able to truly experience Advent?  When did you last simply “be” rather than “do”?