No more snow, no more gobbledygook, No more teachers dirty looks.

oh wait, that’s about the end of school, not the end of winter! How about just the last stanza of “Spring in the South” by Henry Van Dyke

Hark, in his song no tremor of misgiving!
All of his heart he pours into his lay,–
“Love, love, love, and pure delight of living:
Winter is forgotten: here’s a happy day!”
Fair in your face I read the flowery presage,
Snowy on your brow and rosy on your mouth:
Sweet in your voice I hear the season’s message,–
Love, love, love, and Spring in the South!

Yes, its spring and after a weekend of soccer, grass mowing, planting, beautiful sunshine, warm weather and canoeing and on the lake and a great campfire with friends it seems that it is off to a great start! Oh, and lets not forget the Super Moon! WOW!

11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:11-12 (New International Version, ©2011)

Get out there and watch the transformation of Spring. Ponder the transformation of the Earth, and the rising up of hope within you. If the Lord makes this happen each Spring, just imagine what sort of transformation he can do with you!

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Matthew 6:26-29 (New International Version, ©2011)

Yesterday, Portland Maine received 16 inches of snow, as seen in the picture. I checked the school closings this morning in Maine – no, only 1 to 2 hour delays, although the Casco Bay Quilters in Scarborough did cancel their Thursday meeting.

What a difference being prepared makes. You see Chattanooga has no provisions to remove that much snow from such a large area. The real problem has been that fact that most streets where not plowed and definitely not sidewalks and parking lots. So then when the weather took a dip south of the freezing mark, all that slushy stuff turned to the harder to remove ice.

In Portland on the other hand, everyone knows to remove the snow from the roadways, walkways and drive as fast as possible. They are prepared and equipped to react to this type of winter event.

So, it can be in our lives. For instance yesterday morning, I went into the office expecting 2 back to back short discussion and then off into the day of higher intensity meetings. What I got instead was contacts text messages and phone calls starting the before I even showered, (thus the most horrific post yesterday – sorry Joel H.) and when I got to the office and booted up the window to my electronic world, I was blasted with an hours worth of instant messages, urgent emails and questions from more directions then a compass rose can describe. And I could feel the tension and stress building up inside – I was not all prepared!

And that’s when bad things can start. (Sorry Joel A)

So, as we transform ourselves, we have to have some awareness of the “snow storms” that are coming our way and prepare ourselves. The book of Ephesians tell us “to put on the whole armor of God ,so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Spend a little time today thinking about how prepared you are and what steps you need to take to sure up your armor, and find courage and strength from these words from Paul as you increase your readiness.

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

And since this is the busiest time of the year, all sort of schedules are being redone.  Final exams are being moved, Christmas plays and programs adjusted to later in the week.  Shuffling this from here to there, so we can work this in here.

Of course on top of it all is the general confusion about a 19 degree snow filled December day in Chattanooga.  That just never happens.

With all of this changing going on around, it’s always good to know this:

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (New International Version, ©2010)

On the last run of the night, I made it from the top to the bottom without falling – even taking a slightly harder trail to the bottom.  YES, I shouted as I hit poles with my companion at the bottom of the run.  I had overcome, I had cast fear aside, I had gained confidence in the skills I had been given, and I was actually really skiing ( vs just making it down alive!)

Our lives are like that.  We fear.  We fall.  We think we are not good enough.  We think we don’t have the skills to do what we should or what we want.  We lie in the deep snow caught up in trees and give up ( read sin and dispair).  However, we have something that should prop us up and should give us the gumption to get back up and get in there.   Life is meant to be lived in the fray, and we should be in there, not worried about our own inadequacies.

I mean check this out in Romans 7.

²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Yes, we can yell that out on any day – what a wretched man that I am, WHO CAN SAVE ME!

Just a few verses down, we see the answer in Romans 8

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

We are free, we can get out and live it.  We can get up and overcome.  I did! Hey, I can now say I am a skier ( with some asterisks, but still a skier).  Get up! Get out of the snow, point those skis and go man!  GO!

Parking Lot after Work

I was so excited.  Finally, after years of traveling to Maine I was going to be able us the scrapper thingy they provide for you in the car.  ( By the way, that thing is in the car in the middle of the summer!).  But yes, I was going to be able to scrape off the windows of my car.  To most Mainers, that is a pain – an unwelcome sign of winter.  But to me, on this day, it was a source of joy.  A simple event,  but a one that I cherished. 

You probably have things like this in your life as well.  Most days, these are over whelmed by the trials and mundaneness of life.  Today, challenge yourself to find those little things that bring you joy, cherish those, and give thanks for those.  And if you don’t mind - add a comment to this post, and share those moments with all of us.

And I will help you will one – just to get to you started.  The Good News from Acts 13.

 ³²“We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers ³³he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:
   ” ‘You are my Son;
      today I have become your Father.³⁴The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words:
   ” ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ ³⁵So it is stated elsewhere:
   ” ‘You will not let your Holy One see decay.’

 ³⁶“For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. ³⁷But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

 ³⁸“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Joy Joy Joy!

Anyway, its MLK day, so take some time to stop and think about racial harmony and racial tension.  As follows of the Christ, sometimes this seems to be one of the hardest things for us to deal with for really unknown reasons.    But this problems with differences is an issue that is discussed much throughout the history of mankind and also very much in the pages of our Bible.

For instance, Jesus, when asked “who is my neighbor”, tells the all familiar story of the Good Samaritan, a story that fundamental tells us that our neighbor is the person we hate – so go and show them mercy.  He is telling us that everyone is you neighbor and that

” A person’s a person, no matter how small” – Dr.  Seuss.

And we can’t forget the passage dealing with the oneness we have in Christ and how that unity crosses social, gender, racial, or any other barrier you want to create.

Galatians 3:27-29 (New International Version)

²⁷for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So today, honor Dr King, and spend some time thinking about how you are treating your neighbor ( is it as you treat yourself?)

You can't have snow with a cupboard full of bread and milk

Preparations and plans. Sometimes it’s important to make them.  Apparently, when winter weather strikes its even more important.   It’s always the running joke about hitting the grocery when winter weather approaches, and it always makes good news stories.  That and a story about the road crews loading up the salt and sand.  Winter in the South is fun stuff.  However I noticed yesterday on weather.com, more evidence of my government weather conspiracy plot.  Notice the green circle around Chattanooga!!!

Anyway, since snow is once again the talk of the town, and yesterday’s post dealt remotely with the creation, I almost think this is an incredible image to try to conjure up in your mind.  The storehouses of snow.  I think it shows the mightiness and the greatness of the Lord.

²⁰ “Have you ever traveled to where snow is made,
seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,
The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness
for times of trouble and battle and war?
Can you find your way to where lightning is launched,
or to the place from which the wind blows?
Who do you suppose carves canyons
for the downpours of rain, and charts
the route of thunderstorms
That bring water to unvisited fields,
deserts no one ever lays eyes on,
Drenching the useless wastelands
so they’re carpeted with wildflowers and grass?
And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,
the mother of ice and frost?
You don’t for a minute imagine
these marvels of weather just happen, do you? (Job 38:21-23, The Message)

and since we started with a little bit of planning, how about this verse to consider today:

3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

Enjoy the snow – if we get it!

( oh, by the way, the conspiracy theory is a joke -just a joke)

Yesterday I was able to take a nice run in 18 degree weather in some newly fallen snow.  I am enamored with snow.  I am not sure if its because I have such fond memories from my youth around snow and now I never see it, or if its just so beautiful.  I think, on my run, I discovered some of the reasons why snow is so amazing.  This may seem a little cheesy or corny, but this blog sometimes records the ramblings of my mind, and I find that my mind rambles the most on those early morning runs – especially running in places like those around my home town where I have the pathways memorized.

Anyway, it was so pleasant to see the new snow on the ground, untouched and pure with the morning sun reflecting from it.  The snow was so white, and so pure, and the sun would catch it in ways that would make it sparkle like it contained glitter. ( sappy I know).  Anyway, I could not help but to think about how the snow was covering so many things that we consider lowly and dirty – dirt, rocks, fallen leaves, weeds, water (ice, did I mention it was 18) puddles.  But with this covering all the earth was pure, and white and perfect.  Hm, it just reminded me of judgement day and how we will be presented white and pure – with all of our dirty spots covered up.  What a glorious thought!!  That’s one of the cool things about God.  Since he sent Jesus, he make us holy and clean.  Why do I need that you say?  Well, we all have dirty spots in our lives and we all need to be covered with a cover to hide those blemishes.  Why?  – Thats the way to eternal life.  Its really pretty amazing.

Isaiah 1:18 (New International Version)

 ¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together,”
       says the LORD.
       “Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
       though they are red as crimson,
       they shall be like wool.

So anyway, it was a great refreshing run, with a thought about God’s glory that I hope spurns me on to good works and service to my King.  I hope it helps you as well.  ( by the way – did you know that you can add comments on this blog as well – its fun!)

Here is what I woke up to this morning:

It appears the government bubble may be broken!

Have a great day and Go Buccaneers!

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…

Philippians 2:5-6, New International Version

PAUL BARYS-Drier weather will move in for the next couple of days. But some snow could start falling early Saturday morning. 3:31 PM Dec 2nd from web

Snow – Maybe!!!

Yo, Ho, we love the snow.

Alright, well lets hope that’s a go, otherwise that State Championship football game is not going to be very enjoyable in the rain and cold. Go Bucs!

Enough talk about the weather.  I have always been one to hate James. As a matter of fact I pulled it out of one of my bibles.  Not because I don’t believe as some in the past, its just hard.  Its practical, it forces you to make your faith move from Sunday morning bible class to the late afternoon meeting where nothing is going your way.  I mean look at this fourth chapter, it just tears you up about thinking that:

1. you are good,
2. your will is good,
3. the way you talk about other is good
4. the way you talk about your life is good

Essentially, he says, when you are doing for yourself – FAIL! But the good news, no the Great news is  – when you are doing for God – Success.  Like yesterday – submit to Him, trust Him, focus only on HIM – and then life becomes  great.

So, I will tape this back in my bible, and I will do my best to focus on Christ in those tough relationships where I think I am more important then the others  (why I think that I can’t really even comprehend).  What will you do with these words:

James 4

Submit Yourselves to God

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ²You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?^{[a] 6}But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”^[b]

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

¹¹Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. ¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Have a great “snowy” grace filled weekend!