Snow lessons
By STEVE SCHROEDER
Pastor, Parkview Mennonite Church
I learned to drive in the snow right here in Hillsboro. Growing up in San Jose, Calif., we just didn't get snow. So, when I moved to Tabor as a freshman, snow driving was new to me.
I remember, after the first snow that year, I got in my van and drove a few miles out of town on the 13-Mile Road (Indigo), just to experience what it was like. My first observation was that the road and the shoulder all blended together. It was a little challenging to know where the road was.
I also remember parking on Main Street in front of a store, and then having trouble backing out because of the slippery snow and ice. That taught me the value of finding a level parking place when it's icy! Of course I recall spinning "donuts" on the snow and ice in the Tabor parking lot.
My most outstanding memory of snow driving in Hillsboro was the day my friend and I decided that we needed to leave town for some reason during a snowstorm. There already was more than a foot of snow on the roads, and it was blowing hard. We headed west on old U.S.-56, but we didn't even make it to the airport before we got stuck in a drift. We both got out and within minutes of trying to push the car, we realized how stupid we were to even try going anywhere. Almost instantly we both had snow and ice frozen onto our hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and his beard was stuck full of snow.
Some kind person was out in his tractor that day, with a chain, helping people like us who were getting stuck. I remember kneeling down in the snow, while the wind was angrily whipping snow in my face, trying to see well enough to hook the chain somewhere under the car. At that moment I vowed to think twice before ever heading out of town in a blizzard.
But, when the snow comes down gently, and there's no reason to leave town, and the house is warm and toasty, then I love the snow. It makes Christmas come alive in a way that it just doesn't happen where it's sunny and 70 degrees.
Now, I don't mind shoveling snow or driving in snow. And there's something beautiful about the soft crunching sound of walking in snow on a still day.
Snow also has, what I call, a leveling effect. It makes everyone's house and yard (no matter how old or run-down) look decorated and inviting and special for Christmas. Snow has a way of turning neglected back yards and piles of junk into inspiring works of art and design.
Wouldn't it be nice if a blanket of snow could magically cover up the junk piles and neglected areas of our lives? Sometimes we get ourselves into such a mess that we would welcome some kind of a snow blanket that could make things fresh and new again.
My experience with Jesus is exactly like that. I've found that, when I'm honest with Him and allow Him free access to my life, He is eager and willing to "cover" my messes with His blanket of forgiveness. The Bible says "No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool." (Isaiah 1:18 NLT).
All year 'round, God's "snow-like blanket of forgiveness" is available to us. Why don't you take advantage of that today!
