I live in Central Texas. Austin-ish. There's a running joke about Texas weather...32 degrees in the morning, 80 degrees by noon, vice versa, and every combination in between! The weather here is completely unpredictable. And every year at Christmas, I am totally conflicted about wrapping paper and ornaments: do I go for the snow people, do I go for our reality, or do I go for generic? This year I went with ugly Christmas sweater wrapping paper because that seemed like the safest reality around.
I've been a smidge under the weather for the last week with the flu (huge thanks to the anchorwoman who reported on the 5 o'clock news that "this year's flu vaccine is proving to not be quite as effective as the CDC hoped..." Mmmmmm hmmmm....).
Last night around 7:30, I heard a knock at my door. When I opened it to see who was there, it was my adorable across-the-street neighbors. The ones who, when I first moved in, self-proclaimed , "Now we aren't nosey and we won't be in your business, but we do sit in our front room and look out our window from sun up to sun down." The ones who anyone who has ever come to my house when I'm not here knows - because my neighbors walk over and ask them if there is any reason they are on my porch. The ones who look out for me, and I look out for them right back!
"Come on out," they said.
And in my fevery-kinda-out-of-it fog, I walked outside with them to enjoy the beauty of a rare Austin snow! It was gorgeous!! Like I wanted to cry because it was so beautiful and breathtaking! We didn't just get flurries, we got real, legit snow - and it made my heart so very happy!
The last time I went skiing, I busted my a$$ on the bunny slope. I blamed it on the near-white-out snow blizzard. It wasn't pretty (skis and poles flying - on an 84° slope), and I'm probably somebody's story...I earned it, I owned it, and I had to get a new Blackberry afterward because of the amount of snow that got into my carefully concealed phone from that fall. Blackberry? What? I don't know.
Last night was the exact same kind of snow, minus the mountains, minus the ski lifts, minus the New Mexico, minus the skis, and most definitely minus the audience. And a flood of memories helped me realize that I didn't wipe out on the bunny slope all those years ago because of the "white out," but instead because I was out of my comfort zone. It was a humbling moment for me.
Last night's snow struck a chord with me - deep down. It reminded me how far out of my comfort zone I am right now - how the last few weeks have basically been a repeat of that wipe out, and how I need to learn to get back up, dust myself off, find my skis and poles, and get back to the bottom of the "mountain" while holding my head high.
Yes, that was me who fell! And I didn't let it break me or get the best of me. Now, somebody buy me a hot toddy and laugh at me with me because I'm pretty sure I just earned it.
On my drive to work this morning, I was simply in awe of the views. I love my daily drive so much - I get to see the sunrise every single morning, and even when it blinds me, it's amazing. Today's drive was even more spectacular because every bit of it was entirely snow-kissed and sparkling.
It was, I think, just the reset I needed with everything that's going on in my life. God's plans are so much greater than what I could ever imagine. While the weatherman predicted a cold front with rain and sludge and declared that nothing would stick (because Texas weather, for the love of black ice), God had a bigger plan. And it was beautiful!
As the preacher of the church I attended in college used to say, "You know, that's a lot like life, y'all."
Indeed - God is good. He creates beauty when you're smothered in darkness. He brings cold weather that helps your fever break, both literally and figuratively. After the darkest of nights, he provides an unimaginably beautiful sight the next day.
And that, my friends, is exactly what I needed in my life - along with the incredible support I've received from my favorite people in the last few days!!
Amen.
PS - Willllsssooooonnnnnn...
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