The Un-Snow Day

Living in Houston means there are two things you can always count on, unreasonably long summers and constant humidity. For some of us who have lived in Houston long enough, we have developed thin skin which means, while we get sick of the heat lasting through October, we also dread temperatures below about 60 degrees. That is, unless there is snow involved.

This week there was much hype about the possibility of snow. As the weathermen upped the chance of snow each day, my children's hopes and dreams of white fluff inflated like a large balloon. Soon, the surety of snowfall was all anyone could talk about. The excitement was building as we all anticipated the arrival of a winter wonderland. Dads covered pipes and plants. Moms cleaned out the grocery stores and turned on crock pots. School districts cancelled classes. Then we waited. And waited. And waited.

If your house was like mine, you had children waking at all hours of the night (maybe I woke up a time or two also) to peek out the window as if it were Christmas Eve. But then, when morning came there was no snow. That inflated balloon of white winter hope popped right in our faces. We turned on the TV for some type of reassurance from the weathermen. Maybe the snow was just running late. Come on, weatherman, what happened to your forecast? You promised us snow!

The snow never came. The covered pipes and plants were safe, the food in the crock pot was still delicious and we did get out of school, but we would have traded all of that for the fulfillment of the promised snowfall. Our heads hung low, we tried to rally but let's be honest, our hearts were broken just like the weatherman's promise.

While it was easy for me to blame the weatherman, in reality there's only so much a weatherman can do. Weathermen read radars not crystal balls. They can only give their best guess at a forecast. Weather changes constantly. You can't really know for sure what the weather will be until it happens.

Fortunately, not everything works like that. There are precious few things that are certain. My favorite bankable promise is the assurance of Christ's return. Jesus warns us to 'stay awake' spiritually in anticipation of His coming. Unfortunately, we live in a very busy culture with lots of distractions. It's easy to forget all about eternity. I barely have time to think about what I should fix for dinner tonight, much less consider the life hereafter.

But consider these words of Jesus in Matthew 24, “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

It's amazing how often I miss this 'forecast' in my daily life. I plan and prepare like crazy for the slightest chance of snow. I want to be sure my family is ready. The snow may or may not come but Jesus is a sure thing. He IS coming back. Am I preparing my family? Am I living in anticipation of His return? I want us to be found ready.

Our un-snow day turned out fine. We were prepared for the winter blast of 2011. Maybe it will snow next year, maybe not. Maybe Jesus will come back and we won't have to worry about it. Weathermen report on shifting changes in the atmosphere. Jesus reported on the firm plans of His Father. Are you ready?