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Snow in July

by Jerry Ousley  
7/26/2008 / Christian Living

So far this summer it has been what we may have expected it to be Hot! It reminds us about the last couple of summers during which we had very pleasant temperatures except for only a few days. Now I don't want to complain. I am reminded of my words just a few months ago when snow was flying through the air and we longed for the heat of summer. But right now, I must confess, a good snowball looks pretty good. We're never satisfied are we?

Thinking about the cool temperatures reminds me of three big snows that I have experienced over the years. The first took place in 1976. I was barely out of my teens at the time and had gotten a job at the now closed US Shoe Factory in Crothersville, Indiana. It was a blizzard. In fact not many people went to work that day. I thought it was great. But I had to see my girl. Debbie and I were dating then and I couldn't rest until I checked on her. I would have just called but she didn't have a phone at that time. So I bravely hoped in my car and ventured out onto those icy, snowy roads. I felt sort of like a brave knight fighting for the honor of my lady.

The second snow happened just two years later. Deb and I were married now and still working at the shoe factory. We only lived about a mile and a half from the factory but when I got up that morning to get ready to go to work a glance out the window revealed that it had snowed during the night and not just a little bit! In fact I could just barely see our cars. The snow had drifted up to the windows. I could tell where they were because of their shapes. I didn't do anything but turn the lights back off and go back to bed. It was awful (I say with tongue in cheek because a good snow day home from work was just what I thought we needed).

There have been many snows since but I guess the worst of them took place just a couple of years ago. What a snow we had! I managed to get home from work that Thursday with vacation days the rest of the holiday weekend. But Debbie was scheduled to work. We decided it would be best rather than trying to drive the twenty-mile trip from home to just get her a motel room. That way she'd only have around a mile to drive to work. Surely that wouldn't be as bad as trying to drive from home. That's what we did; but it back-fired big time. She called early that morning to inform Megan and me that she had been trying to dig the car out for a couple of hours using only a dust pan she had borrowed from the motel. Once again the knight reared up in me and I began working with everything I had to get the van out. I would daringly make the twenty-mile trip into Seymour and rescue my lady. I got stuck. Thank goodness for good neighbors! Mine had a snow blower and he generously began working on our driveway while I dug the van out. By the time I had finished so had he. It was a strange looking sight looking down that driveway. He had cut a path just wide enough for the van to get out with a thirty plus inch wall of snow on either side.

With his help I had gotten out. I went in the house to warm up and just then Debbie called. She had managed to get out of the motel parking lot and had picked up her sister who was also stranded (by the way, her husband was trying to be a daring knight was well but his four-wheel drive was now hung up in the snow). To say the least, she made the treacherous trip home and we lived happily ever after.

I'm feeling a little cooler now. But suddenly, once again, I am reminded of my words back when the chill was making my spine do the funky chicken and I'll just be thankful for the heat and the invention of air conditioning.

There is a spiritual part of this story however; those long cold and lonely winters do give way to warm summers. Yeah, there are some hot days but boy it's nice to be able to dress in cooler less bulky clothing, cook some good old hamburgers out on the grill and enjoy family time. Many of us may feel trapped in a long cold winter of life. But we can cheer up because if we'll trust in the Lord because the winter is always followed by a summer.

So, let's think cool during these hot days but never forget the bitter cold winter we just came out of. Anyone ready for a trip to the DQ?

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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