Plaid coat reminders........and two things to work on!

 

I know this has happened before and I have shared photo's like this a time or two, but I just couldn't resist.  The top photo is Gwen and Doug in 1984 and the bottom photo is Ellie, Zeke and Lia from December 2013.  When I saw Lia yesterday in her plaid coat, I suddenly flashed to Gwen in a little plaid coat.  Gwen was a couple of years younger than Lia is in these pictures, but I feel the flashback.

Is there anything better than the joy of children when they are sledding?  Or just outside playing in the snow?  Last week at work, when we were trying to get 14 little 3 year olds into snowpants, coats, boots, hats, mittens and scarfs, it didn't seem so great. 
The problem in that situation is that the children that are FIRST to get ready get overheated before we finish getting everyone ELSE dressed!  And I can tell you that the teachers are so overheated that they do not want to put on their own coats, hats, gloves and scarfs!  But looking at these pictures and seeing the joy and fun that the kids at work have outside, I have been reflecting on playing in the snow! 

The first realization that I had was that if adults wore heavy pants and sweaters, snowpants, fur lined boots, big parkas with fur lined hoods, mittens (not gloves) and scarfs, WE WOULD PROBABLY LIKE THE SNOW MUCH MORE THAN WE DO!  Really, isn't this true?   We are simply not prepared for the weather.  So no wonder we don't enjoy being out in the cold and snow.  Being prepared for whatever we are walking through, is thought number one today.

The second realization was that the snow IS really beautiful!  Today was one of those days when everything was glistening (by the way, this happened because it was so very cold when it was snowing).  When you just stop and look at a small bit of snow, it is really amazing.  Incredible acutally.  I for one have a really hard time NOT thinking about the driving and the shoveling.  Kids, on the other hand, just appreciate the snow - for the snow!  So thought number two tonight is to just be in the moment.

I know that in so many ways,  I am not really prepared.  And I have a really hard time staying in the moment.  I tend to think through every possible consequence and my focus shifts to the "what if's".  So today Jesus reminded me that I need to work on these two things!  In a way, these seem like opposites.  On one hand - be prepared.  But on the other side of this, just stay in the moment.  WAIT A MINUTE!  How do you do that???  Is the idea to be prepared to stay in the moment?  YES! 

I just got the message.  When you are prepared for all situations, you have the freedom to just be in the moment.  Yes, further work required!

Jesus, thank you for bringing me something new again today.  Thank you for speaking to me even when I feel like I have my fingers in my ears.  Holy Spirit, help all of us to understand the depth of these really simple ideas.  Thank you for children, grandchildren and yes, thank you for snow!  Amen