The Glow in the Snow

It's officially the first day of winter, and it's not kidding around. I'm writing this between 8:30 and 9am on Sunday the 21st, and it is currently -11 Fahrenheit outside. I have no idea what that is in Celsius, but believe me, it's just plain bitter cold. On top of the cold temperature, the wind is blowing at about 30 miles per hour, which makes the wind chill about -40. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has issued a "no travel" advisory, so we have canceled church services throughout the parish. It feels weird to have a Sunday morning with no church, but I am finding out that this is one of the realities of rural ministry. Sometimes God gives you a day off, even if you don't want one. My sermon is all ready, I have an awesome children's message prepared, but no place to take them, so they will wait. It may be three years before I get to preach this sermon, if the lectionary is followed accurately.

Part of the reason for the no travel advisory is that we got a whole lot of snow yesterday. It snowed hard through the night and all the way through the morning and into the afternoon, finally stopping around 3pm. Since there is a lot of wind, the snow is blowing around, reducing visibility and making driving hazardous. I went to Fulda for a Men's Bible Breakfast yesterday morning, and since there was so much snow I was concerned for the safety of the men of our parish, and my intent was to send anyone home who showed up. As it turns out, I was the only idiot that ventured out that way, and a little later one of the other men from the parish came in because he usually has breakfast with his uncle at this same restaurant on Saturday morning, so he and his uncle sat with me and we had a nice chat, mostly about how to shop for a bargain on a tractor.

This morning, after all the snow and the wind, I looked outside and noticed that most of our lawn Christmas decorations are getting buried in snow. While Jesus is the reason for the season of Christmas, in our front yard he is now the "glow in the snow." The lights around the front steps are hardly visible anymore, and our Rudolf on a pole is having a shorter and shorter flight. We are fortunate, however, because one of the men of First Lutheran lives here in town and has a small front loader. He has come by faithfully after each snow storm and plowed our driveway so we can get out. It is really nice that he performs this service, because I have shoveled the driveway in the past, and it is quite laborious. I am grateful for his plowing. The result of his plowing, though, is that we are getting some impressive mounds of snow in the front yard! This being the first day of winter, I am curious how big the snow piles will be by February! I used to try to keep the sidewalk clear between the parsonage and the church, but after this last snow storm there is now a huge pile of snow on the sidewalk, so I will be walking in the street until the spring thaw. Since we live in Dundee, that is not a problem. My chances of being hit by a car are slim to none. I was just trying to keep the walk clear for my own benefit anyway, but now, forget it! We're supposed to get more snow on Tuesday. I can hardly wait! I wonder if our Nativity Set will be completely buried by then. I'll keep you posted. Blogged by Don