Snow Day!

Today was a special sort of snow day. My dad picked Luke up this morning for a day of fun in the snow. And I had the day and the house to myself. I listened to NPR. I methodically graded my students' essays. I drank countless cups of lukewarm coffee. I watched birds eat seed Cory threw on the snow. Truly--it's been four years since I've had this sort of day: not a work day, no responsibility, no schedule, pajama clad, whatever-I-want-to-do day.

And I do feel refreshed. I felt the same way after Christmas vacation. It was a different sort of break this year. In the past, I remember returning to work sometimes more worn out than when I left. But this year I returned relaxed, rejuvenated, and clear-minded. We had a beautiful Christmas. Busy. Sometimes stressful. Completely unscheduled. And I think we, my husband and I, just decided to go with the flow. And there's something to this that I'm finding necessary for happiness in our day to day life. I haven't been able to put my finger on why those two weeks in the end of December were different until today. Read the passage from Hebrews first.

Psalm 56, 57, 58/64, 65 [morning/evening]
Genesis 19:1-29
Hebrews 11:1-12
John 6:27-40

Snowed [Iced] In

It doesn't take much to get snowed in here in the South. But despite our tundra-state, I'm disappointed. Yesterday evening you would have watched my hopeful trot to the sliding glass door, a nose pressing to the glass, and dejection fall across my face. The snow just wouldn't come. I woke up at four am to check. An ice glaze. And then--this morning (at a more decent hour)--more ice. Over the course of the morning, snow and sleet mixed together and turned the deck, our yard, the road into an ice rink.

We crunched through the woods this evening without direction--truly--we let Luke lead. Everything in the woods was coated in a thin glaze of crystal clear ice; and at some point, the farther we walked, the more it felt like we must have wandered into Narnia or Middle-Earth. Luke was a fearless leader--briar patches were tunnels, hills were mountains, ice patches became glaciers. I brought up the rear of our procession, and occasionally, Luke would call, "You ok Mommy?" And I would respond with confidence. "We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." [Heb. 10:29]

Psalm 55/138, 139 [morning/evening]
Genesis 18:1-16
Hebrews 10:26-39
John 6:16-27