Musing

        It snowed today. A little earlier in the season than usual but it was the usual amount: barely an inch. The news headlined that the south eastern states were hit with more snow than had been received in nearly three decades; but not here.

        The funny thing is that schools are still closed, operations are postponed. Even some stores are closed for barely an inch of snow which will probably disappear completely before nightfall, at least from the streets. I grew up in New Hampshire where the snow fell, the streets were plowed and business went about as usual. Snow just wasn't a big deal up there. It was expected as routinely as the dafodils are expected to sprout and bloom around spring. It began usually in late December or January to really stick around, and it didn't completely  go until late March. Sometimes we had snow laying around until mid-April, and once, it even snowed in May. I've hear that up in some of the high western mountains, the snow isn't completely gone until June. But regardless, where snow is a regular occurrence, it's dealt with. People live their lives as normal. Down here, snow scares people just a little bit, everyone anticipates it. Children are given the day off to pull out their cardboard sleds and coast down a hill where the snow is so scarce that you can  see the tops of the grass. New Englanders come down and laugh, but southerners take every millimeter of snow seriously.

       I guess I realized it's a little like trials can be in one's life. So far in my life my trials have come in millimeters and inches, I've probably had no more than a foot of real trouble in my entire life. And I look over at the people who have troubles piled up to the second story window and wonder how they manage. How do they take it and yet live such joyful lives when a dusting of trouble immobilizes me?

      That's when it really hit me that God gives the grace to each person that he needs to get through his own trials. Half of the reason that North Carolina is blocked up in the event of a smattering of snow is that we don't have the number of plows or necessary equipment to make the roads safe when there's snow. When we might only get an inch of snow, per winter, it's not cost effective to keep snow plows around. When it does, pickup trucks are pressed into service, fitted up with little plows and dispersed to clear the main roads. I still remember the great big orange plows that would come through our street up North, though, they dwarfed the pickup trucks and the plow itself was twice the size of those down here. Up north they were equipped to handle it.

       When we lived up North, we had about six snow shovels and just as many ice scrapers to clear out the driveway and scrape the ice off the car. Down here, we've gotten rid of all our snow shovels and we have to dig out our ice scrapers from a dusty corner of the garage when it actually freezes to the point we can't just send the ice sliding off with windshield wipers.

       When the trials in our lives accumulate to several feet, God will give us snow shovels; when path seems completely blocked, God will send us a snowplow, but as of yet, I haven't needed a snow plow for my troubles when they can all fit in a snow shovel.

      What's my point in all this? Simply that as we start off the new year, with sundry cares and worries that have chased us into 2018, lets stop and remember that God has given us the equipment to deal with what we have. Down here, snow is fun and a little bit of a novelty, nobody bothers with snow plows or shovels because they aren't needed; we have what we need to deal what we have, just like New Englanders are equipped with what they have to the measure of snow they receive. If God fills your proverbial driveway with trials this year, look around, he'll not only send you a snow shovel, but also, a few friends to help you clear it out. If the drifts pile up to your bedroom window and block the door, he'll send a neighbor with a snowblower to clear it away. And, sometimes, when God sends snow, I've realized, I just need to take a deep breath, relax, and build a snowman!

       Alright, that was kind of a funny thing to start the year out with, but I hope it's as encouraging to all my readers as it was to me to muse over this little truth.

       Okay, I want to leave you with a winter song.

       I always get frustrated when people try to drag snow into Christmas, it really has nothing to do with it. Why is "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" associated with Christmas? I don't know because it doesn't even so much as mention the word in the song. And let's not even start with "Let it Snow" anyhow, I'm not going to share either of those today, though they're a couple of examples. The song I'm sharing does pretty much hint that it's talking about Christmas but the subject is basically how to keep cheerful during the cold winter days. I just love the part that goes "All grudges forgot, are put in the pot, all sorrows aside they lay..."

    So whether you already have foot of snow or live in a stuffy state like California where the weather is stuck at the same setting all year(I don't think any Californian's read my blog so I'm clear to slam the state, if you do live in California and are reading this please understand that my dislike of the state doesn't necessarily translate to you), this song is a good one to cheer the spirits on a bleak day or when it's too cold cold to go outside, or all the activities for the day are cancelled because you live in the south like me.

    Enjoy "To Drive The Cold Winter Away," an old English folk carol. I find it rather hard not to get up and dance a jig to this one....when it's performed properly. ;)

     Okay, I'll leave you all to your respective winter days. I'm going to go dig out an ice scraper from a dusty corner. ;)

    ~ Christianna