The Great Blizzard of 2008

I had the privilege this morning of traveling with the school district leadership to the Food for Families Food Drive to deliver canned goods that were collected at our schools. The leadership team from the high school makes this trip each year, but this was my first time to go. This privilege included getting up at 5 a.m. so that I could board the bus at 6 a.m. with everyone else.

Now, 5 a.m. doesn't exist in my world unless there's a sick child in my bed. This occurred just yesterday when Tucker couldn't stop coughing at 5 a.m. Thankfully, Trey didn't have to work yesterday (more on that another time) so he took Tucker in the living room to give him a breathing treatment and let me continue sleeping until my 6:30 wake up time.

So at five o'clock this morning (okay, it was like 5:06) I crawl out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready. Over my blaring radio I could hear the leaky faucet in my bathtub getting louder and louder. I thought to myself, "Trey should try to fix that while he's home. I'll have to start dropping hints about it." The sound continued to get louder. Finally I glanced over at the tub and noticed that the sound didn't match up with the drips of water coming from the faucet. Was my brain awake? Were my sleepy eyes playing tricks on me?

I turned off the radio momentarily to concentrate on the drips only to discover that the sound was coming from the window and it was caused by sleet! Yesterday it was 70 something degrees - I didn't even wear a jacket - and now it's sleeting. And I'm about to go stand outside in the great blizzard of 2008 for this food drive. Great.

However, all is not lost with me. I'm trying this new thing where I remember to be grateful for all of my blessings first thing in the morning instead of waiting for a less un-Godly hour when I'm more awake. I checked my attitude, got ready, and started to bundle up. Trey got up, too, at some point. He checked the weather, peeked out the window, informed me that I was going to be cold, and then kissed me goodbye before heading back to bed. His moral support that early in the morning made me feel good - he and Tucker are the only people I know who are less of a morning person than I (morning people? whatever).

Off I go on empty, dark streets amidst rain and sleet and snow. It was still and quiet, yet somehow I was awake and alive and excited about the snow. I thought about the cold, and then I remembered that I was going to a food drive. Being cold for a few minutes was nothing compared to being worried about feeding your family, so I began to welcome the opportunity to freeze outside. The snow and the sleet just added to my Christmas spirit. Was it snowing in Bethlehem? Did Mary look out at sleet?

As we left the administration building to load into the special "Tiger Pride" school bus I was grinning like kid. It was snowing these real snowflakes - not the kind you have to squint to see and convince yourself it's actual snow. They were substantial, stick to your eyelashes, reflecting under-the-street-lamp snowflakes.

Someone had decorated the Tiger Pride bus with Christmas lights, and our former principal "made" us sing Christmas carols on the way to the food drive. It was wonderful! Snow falling on a cold, pitch-dark morning as we bumped down an empty highway in the bus - it was a perfect picture to save in my memory.

Now back to the snowflakes - okay loosely back to the snowflakes. I have this thing about rain. There was a vacation Bible school song when I was a kid called "It's Beginning to Rain" (at least I think it was VBS). Anyway, it goes like this:

"It's beginning to rain, hear the voice of the Father
Saying whosoever will come and drink of this water
I will pour my blessings out on your sons and your daughters
So if you're thirsty and dry, look up to the sky
It's beginning to rain."

So I have this weird kind of obsession with rain and rainy days and gloomy days and cloudy days and such. I tell Trey that my obsession is Biblical - the rain is a way that God still physically, tangibly blesses us today. He waters the flowers, the farmer's crops, gives new life to stagnant rivers and lakes, and makes a great day to read a book. I see rain as a symbol of God's blessings. It's Him saying "Hey! Remember me? Your Heavenly dad? I got this. I'm taking care of you, remember."

"Look up to the sky. It's beginning to rain."

This morning, when on any other day of the year I would be sleeping, it rained giant, eyelash tickling snowflakes.