Snow Days

There’s nothing much more exciting to a kid that waking up to a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. And if it gets you out of school that day, then all the better. In fact, I was once informed by my Hannah that snow on a weekend or holiday is just a waste.


Little kids can’t wait to get out and play in the snow…then come back inside to warm up…then go back out to build a snow man…troop back in for lunch…head back out sledding…drag in for hot cocoa and to dry out… The whirlwind of coats, scarves, hats, earmuffs, gloves, mittens, and boots is dizzying. I imagine snow days are hard on stay-at-home parents.

Teenagers, on the other hand, embrace a snow day like their pillow as they crawl back into their cave-rooms for another five or six hours of sleep. It’s a little like a bear deciding hibernation isn’t over yet, and they can be just about as grouchy. They’ll even tell you their brains are hard-wired to need more sleep, but I’m not buying it.

I remember being at Radford, where falling snow triggered much giddy celebration and general craziness. Of course, it doesn’t take much to get the festivities going on a college campus. My son Ben is actually taking a skiing class for college credit at ASU next semester, so he’ll be all about snow this winter.

As you age, your opinion of snow continues to change and how you feel about snow as an adult typically depends on how likely it is to inconvenience you. When you get a real job, with all that usually entails—house, job, family, pets, etc.—snow can be downright annoying. I watch the weather with great interest these days, wondering if getting to work will be an issue and, to a lesser degree, if I’ll be able to wear jeans to the office tomorrow. Are we only expecting a “skiff” of snow, or should I lay in supplies, just in case?

Even for an adult though, snow on the weekend can be a manifestation of grace…a wonderful excuse to stay at the house and enjoy a rare chance to really rest before the work week madness repeats itself. A Saturday spent inside where it’s warm can be a blessing when you spend the day watching flurries in the woods outside.

Occasionally snow mirrors my life circumstances, like when I’m trying to navigate through a driving snowstorm that pummels my windshield like problems and worries that just keep trying to chip away at my faith. I feel like I’m hurtling through space, pushing through a dark tunnel …and the light at the end is nowhere in sight.

Other times I feel as though I’m living my life in a glass snow globe, subject to being picked up and shaken against my will until the blinding snow has me feeling my way around a circle of belief. I can’t see a thing, but if I hold firmly to my foundation the snow will eventually settle and I will be able to see again….maybe even more clearly than before.

My sweet friend Connie has a beautiful collection of nativity snow globes. We protect our childhood image of that first Christmas, fleshing it out in our imagination and daring anyone to suggest it may have been different. But Mary and Joseph likely felt as though they were blinded by a veritable snow squall of problems, with no shelter in sight besides a dirty, smelly stable. And the deity of their son demanded that they step out of their comfort zone and into the spotlight to share Him with the world. Talk about God shaking up your snow globe.

Connie once also confessed to me, “One step out of today and I’m in a world of trouble.”

I’m not urging you to step out ahead of God. But don’t be afraid to step out of your globe. Even though we may sometimes feel constrained in our own spheres of influence, that’s not our reality. True, we’re each dealing with our own problems, insecurities, and weaknesses, but we are not trapped inside glass walls. We’re afforded the freedom of moving beyond our walls to reach out and touch others with Christ-like hands. We are free, indeed!

“Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters.” ~ Proverbs 25:13

Waiting on "Baby Cheesus"

Christmas decorating is an evolutionary process in my house. If you’re not paying close attention, you won’t even notice it happening. Then one day (typically the week before Christmas) you’ll look around and think, “Hey, when did all of this happen?”

But there are a couple of decorations that I put out right after Thanksgiving, regardless of my crazy schedule and tendency to procrastinate. My Nativity scene is one of those.


Funny, but I still think of it as my father’s Nativity scene, even though it’s been in my possession for most of my adult life. Maybe I feel that way because it’s the one he purchased from Sears over 40 years ago and he never, ever let me or my sister arrange the paper mache people and animals, no matter how much we begged. If we moved one of the sheep even a fraction of an inch to the left when he wasn’t looking, he noticed and immediately put it back in its proper place. He would, however, let us wind up the music box – artfully camouflaged under the hay in the stable – and listen to “Away in a Manger” one time each night before Christmas.

I guess it’s really no surprise that, although I really tried to be more free with my own children and let them arrange everyone the way they saw fit, I would always go back after they went to bed and rearrange them the “right” way. Sheep have to stay with the shepherd – there’s no integration of livestock in my Nativity scene. The wise men stick together. Mary is on the right, Joseph's on the left. And everyone, animals included, are all gazing in awe and adoration at the babe in the manger who is, of course, front and center. Oh, and the angel hangs on a nail, hovering perfectly centered over the stable.

Hannah, my non-compliant child, insisted on rearranging the whole tableau every day, sometimes more than once. In her mind, the goal was to get everyone, even the cow, as close as possible to the Christ child. I’ve never read anything in the New Testament to indicate Jesus was claustrophobic, but if He was her scene would have explained it. Hannah was also responsible for placing the camel in the baby's place while the baby was hanging out with the angel up on the roof.

My son Ben, on the other hand, was fine with my arrangement. His only quirk was his inability to pronounce “Jesus.” It was always an exciting moment when we carefully unwrapped and placed the “Baby Cheesus” in the manger.

The Nativity scene has been displayed several different places in our home over the years, but most recently it has been safely tucked away in the bookcase. This placement was due, in large part, to me losing my mind one year when the children were younger and arranging the Nativity scene on an end table in our living room. I didn't realize it until it was too late, but this table was right in line with the hall, making it fair game for Hannah and Ben’s game of, “run down the hall as fast as you can and skid across the hardwood floor in the living room.” To this day Hannah maintains that everything would have been fine if she hadn’t been wearing her blanket as a cape. I still grieve for the donkey’s ear…

I treasure my Nativity scene, not only for its rich history, but for the beautiful story it depicts. And even though my children think they’re “too old” to get excited about unwrapping the pieces, I still take great pleasure in setting up it up.

Ironically, it makes me a little sad that no one sneaks behind me and changes it up when I’m not looking. I’ve come to realize that it really doesn’t matter where everyone else is, as long as “Baby Cheesus” is in the middle. I’ve heard people say they keep their baby figurine hidden away until Christmas Day and then they bring him out and place him in the manger. But for me, that’s a little too close to the way the world operates, bring the baby out at Christmas, only to wrap him up in a scrap of cloth and pack Him away for the rest of the year.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’” ~ Luke 2:8-12 (NIV)

Advent is a funny thing… While we’re awaiting the birth of Jesus, my “Baby Cheesus” lives, front and center, all year long. I’m awaiting His return, even as I’m thankful He’s already come. And the last thing I want to do is hide Him away until next Christmas.