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Ruth Everhart

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It’s Called Grace: Blizzard of 2009

December 20, 2009 By Ruth Everhart Leave a Comment

On the day before the fourth Sunday of Advent, God decided to speed up our holiday celebrations by blanketing us with snow. We were, collectively, forced inside by 20 inches of snow. I’m loving it. Today, all around, church services were cancelled. I was as gleeful as a 3rd grader who wore her pajamas inside-out to woo the snow day off from school!

The thing people love about Christmas, I think, is that they get to take a day “off.” We relax with people we love, enjoy a few gifts, some good food, and maybe a delicious drink. We relax. Did I already use that verb? It’s a hard one to comprehend, it seems, for some people. Relax.

The problem, of course, is that we had to work so gosh-darn hard to earn the relaxation. Women who “make Christmas” don’t have to be told how much work that one day can take.

Well, here we are! Unearned relaxation! Isn’t that the definition of Grace? And I can’t help but think that the unplanned time off is good for families, a little respite from being scheduled to death.

Yep, there was some shoveling to be done, but I enjoyed it, actually. Gets the blood moving. I’m healthy and the driveway wasn’t impossibly long. A couple of hours each day, and I was done. I didn’t live in Minnesota for a decade for nothing!

Of course, I didn’t have ill family members, or any crises to deal with, so I had the luxury of indulging in this unexpected gift.

How do you feel about a blizzard? There’s always another one to come.

Sabbath & Snow blizzard of 2009,  snow day Sunday

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