More Snow
2.15.10
I live in one of the unfortunate areas that has been
pounded by snow in recent weeks. Strangely I moved two
hours south and never experienced a winter up north quite
like this one. Every time the crews get cleaned up
from one storm, another one comes. Schools have been
shut for two straight weeks. The last I heard, they
might go today, ironically President's Day when they were
scheduled to have off.
To add more insult to injury,
they're calling for 1-3 more inches of snow today.
It's not much when compared to the 30 some inches that we've
already received this month but it's an annoyance as much as
anything now.
As a pastor this is more than a mere annoyance.
I had to close church two weeks in a row. This is
in addition to closing the Sunday before Christmas this
year. We finally had church yesterday.
Attendance wasn't bad but some of the elderly I don't
expect to see until spring at this point. I don't
blame them because if there's anything to slip on, it
would be disastrous for them. Of course offering
was up yesterday, but not enough to make up for not
having church two weeks in a row. Almost all of a
church's costs are fixed. Just because church
isn't open doesn't mean that it doesn't have any bills
for that week. Of course even in the midst of all of
this, God obviously has a purpose. It is
frustrating but every so often we need to be slowed down
and to focus on what really matters. We need to be
taught patience and learn that God is in control no
matter what. Even Paul had to learn this lesson.
His heart was in the right place as he wanted to
continue on his missionary journeys. But while
Paul was locked in prison, he wrote a large part of the
New Testament. Some of Paul's most lasting
contributions to the Christian church came during a time
when he was inconvenienced and had to be slowed down.
So, I don't really like the snow right now and if you're
a part of the 60% plus country that currently has snow
cover, you might not be happy either. But God is
still in control of the entire situation and there is
good to come out of it. |
