Snow-Stormed

Growing up, I remember always wishing for snow during Christmas and the winters to come.  We rarely had a white Christmas.  We did have several memorable snowstorms.  We enjoyed them all.  One of us guys-on-the-block would hurry to the window and if we saw snow, we’d run back in and get all dressed for the cold.  Boots, gloves, scarves, etc. went on, and out we’d go.  Sometimes, other guys were out too, but if there was no one, we’d start calling each other, or throwing snowballs at their windows to get their attention.  One of my last great snowstorms while growing up was around 1979.  Parts of our neighborhood was under 18” of snow while others got up to 24.”  We were ecstatic!  I remember running to this back street where normally there was little traffic and as I turned the corner, it was a blanket of snow that went up to my knees!!!  I ‘ran’ taking slow, huge steps sinking in with each one.  It was just great.  I walked back to tell others about it and soon we were all going mad everywhere enjoying ourselves.  Everything had been paralyzed.  Trucks and buses were stopped in their tracks.  It looked like a ghost town!  One could walk right into a bus or truck frozen on the road with no one inside! God’s power was marvelous! Tiny dustings of white powder had accumulated to where it had halted everything!

Either that year or the one before, we also had a great time.  We made two teams.  Ours had Georgie, maybe Aaron, and Gil.  Gil was the most feared snowball-maker on the block.  We’d watch him take snow and methodically shape it into a snowball without gloves.  We’d watch as he’d compact it more and more and the water would just drip.  Our faces frozen in fear as saliva trickled down our mouths from the dread of who would get hit by such a weapon.  When finished, he’d throw one at some 70 mph against the metal pull-down gate across the street.  When a loud bang shattered the silence, he’d say, “Yep, I think it’s ready.” We all were like, ‘We want Gil, we want Gil on our side…”

 I know the other team had Edgar, June, and Chicky.   Both teams had crates or buckets of snowballs.  Gil was our snow-making machine, so he pre-made a batch.  On one occasion, it was like on a TV show where we were walking nearing a corner in blizzard conditions, just yapping away trying to find the other team to obliterate them.  Suddenly, we reached the corner unawares, as did the other team with perfect synchronization.  Suddenly, both teams let out yelps and yikes as the crates and buckets flew up in the air as both teams retreated!  Then, we all headed back for our ammunition and began chasing and pummeling each other!  That event was so comical!  It was so classic, so golden, so much a part of who we were.  Though, in our late teens, it was so much fun.  It would close an era of ‘The Guys on the Block.’  It would become the last snowstorm of our lives together.  “To everything there is a season…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

A few years later, in 1993 or 94, I once again had fun in a snowstorm but this time with kids of my own.  We’d go to our large backyard and we’d be the only ones there.  The kids would ride on me like I was a horsey and we’d plow into the snow.  The snowy, blizzard conditions kept the cowardly kids-and grownups inside, so we had all the space in the world just for us.  Our kids ran and jumped and went on the slide and see-saw.  They braved the snow as it bit into their faces.  They threw themselves ‘dead’ flat on their backs on the ground and laid there very still feeling the snow just falling on their faces as they listened to the howling winds.  Now and then, puffs of ‘smoke’ came out through their nostrils as they breathed heavily from the excitement.  They were ‘one’ with the snow.  It was so much fun to lie there having no worries.  There was no one around and they were just savoring the moment. They were taking in the silence and observing the grandness of everything around yet feeling so small in the vast open space.  Behind closed windows, their mom watched and laughed before making hot chocolate for us.

There’s a silence when a blizzard is taking place.  Aside from the (possible) howling wind, there’s no noise, no cars or trucks going by; just a calming stillness surrounding you, maybe interrupted by your own laughter or your own thoughts.  In the stillness, God is there and we can feel him so close to us.  Winter is almost here.  You can cuddle in a warm blanket when the storms come.  You can watch the flurries begin to cascade down the skies.  You can warm by a crackling fire as the flurries now-turned-to- snow storms the windows of your soul.  You can be a kid again and head outside-even if only in your thoughts.  Throw yourself in the snow; feel your heavy breathing, listen to the silence enveloping you.  God’s whisper is louder than ever.  The whirlwind is calling your name; it’s speaking to your heart.  It’s drawing you into His presence.

The fire of the Holy Spirit like a crackling fire can warm a cold and/or lost soul; His fire’s purpose is to bring you into that stillness and make you ‘one’ with Him.

In Job 38:22, God asks, “Have you entered into the treasures of the snow?”  Go ahead and enjoy His treasures.  Invite Him in to your life.  Afterall, He’s enjoyed watching you from the windows of heaven.  Enjoy the spell- bounding glamour of a snowstorm. Every season has a purpose as well as its own beauty.  Reflect on the beauty of winter.  

 Afterwards, sneak inside and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate together; then crash…

God bless!
Sam