What a day yesterday, Thursday March 16th, was. It started out not particularly pleasant with snow and a bit of a breeze. And it only went downhill from there. The snow kept coming and the wind got stronger…and stronger. As the National Weather Service had indicated, we ended up with blizzard conditions with blowing snow and some areas experiencing very limited visibility.
Travel around town was certainly doable. But even in my travels around Mitchell, every so often I’d get a glimpse of what it was like out in the country. I was glad I didn’t have to travel outside of town. I could see that visibility had become very limited during the morning hours. And then something subtle but significant happened. The temperature must have dropped slightly, or at least just enough that roads, the paved and concrete roads, began to get slick. All of a sudden the Facebook page “Mitchell 911” began to blow up with reports of vehicles sliding into the ditch, rollover accidents, collisions, etc.
This pattern continued into the afternoon hours; blowing snow, windy conditions, poor visibility, slick surfaces and accidents. Pleas kept going out over the Mitchell 911 page, as well as the SD Highway Patrol page for people to slow down on the roads or simply not travel. However, the reports of accidents and vehicle mishaps just kept on coming. One accident even involved a Highway Patrol Officer who was providing traffic control for an accident further ahead on I90. A truck lost control on the slick roads and slid right into the Highway Patrol vehicle. From the reports, no one was seriously injured, thank goodness.
Then something else happened mid-afternoon. The storm front passed through, the clouds disappeared, and the glorious sun shone upon us with all its strength. In many ways it turned into a beautiful afternoon with the sun melting off some of the snow that had accumulated on the streets, sidewalks, and driveways around town. I realize out in the country and on many highways, there were still issues, but the afternoon turned out brighter and better than I had expected, especially considering we were under a winter weather advisory.
Now, please understand. I’m not saying that yesterday afternoon was perfect, go to the lake or golf course kind of weather. Not at all! We still have to wait a bit for that kind of weather. But the fact that the sun came out and began melting some of the snow made it feel or seem better than what had been expected.
What I’m reminded of is that too often our expectations set the tone for the day. I expected it to be stormy all day, so I was surprised when the sun came out. Or we expect others to tell us what kind of a day we’re going to have, such as the National Weather Service telling us we were under a Winter Weather Advisory until about 10pm last evening.
In this journey of life or our journey of faith, we will encounter storms. There’s no getting around it. Storms are a part of life…which means they are also a part of our faith experience. But what is important to realize is that storms don’t necessarily last as long as we think they will or they may not be as devastating as we expect. Just as the sun came out on Thursday, so too, the sun or the “son,” can come out in our lives and take away the threat of the storms or the impact on our lives.
Something we all need to remember is that storms are a reality…but they don’t last forever, whether they are winter storms or summer storms. They don’t last forever. The sun will come out, the ice will melt, the dark clouds will disappear. God never says we won’t have storms in life, quite the opposite actually. What God does promise is to be with us throughout the storms and to bring us into a new day. Amen…Amen… (Now about these snow storms…I think I’m ready for a good old thunderstorm!!) ☺
Pastor Keith