Not a Fan

I'm so not a fan of cold and certainly not a fan of winter weather.  Snow is pretty to look at but when it requires my shoveling it out of the way its beauty tends to blur in my eyes.  Ice is also beautiful when it coats trees, bushes and other items - but when those other items include power lines or the ice causes trees to fall on other power lines, roads, cars and homes it too has turned ugly.

Yesterday we were the beneficiaries of a nasty little ice storm.  Wires down all over the area, accidents on a multitude of highways, secondary and neighborhood streets, transformer and structure fires and tens of thousands lost power to their homes.  Power that might not be restored for days.  While the temperatures rose throughout the day to melt what coated our little world, they dropped again when night fell and the refreeze began.  Houses without power that were once warm and toasty slowly lost that warmth and many fled their homes to stay with friends or relatives who were fortunate enough to still have electricity and heat.

Warming stations were set up at many a local fire stations so people without power could warm up some (but not sleep) and charge their electronic devices.  Some were reported to even be providing light snacks and beverages.  Pretty neat thing to do for people in need.  Bravo!

My home was one of the lucky ones that did not lose power nor did we incur any damage from ice or falling trees like some of our friends did.  We have a fireplace so in the event power was lost, we'd have still been able to keep some heat in the house and maintain some level of comfort.

I started to think.  I thought about a man I have learned of named Patrick who is homeless and lives somewhere in Frederick in a tent.  I thought about a story I read in the paper about the homeless in my area and with the article were pictures of families, also living in tents who had lost their homes due to job cuts or our lovely housing market problems.  Tents.  Human beings living in tents, outside in an ice storm with temperatures well below freezing.  Humans who were in those same tents during the last few storms and when we were hit with a massive arctic blast causing temperatures to dip into negative numbers with dangerous, life-threatening wind chills.

Shelters can only hold so many and of course, the homeless out number the available beds.  The Frederick Rescue Mission opens its doors during the day to give people shelter from the cold.  They provide hot meals and fellowship, prayer and the sharing of the gospel.  Sooner or later though, they must ask people to leave and close up for the night, sending many back into the cold.  Sending many back to a tent (if they are even lucky enough to have that) that offers some, but very little shelter from the hard winter night ahead.

Warming stations.  Not for the people who live outside during the winter but for people who are inconvenienced because their insulated homes are without power and the inside temps might be anywhere say between 40-50-ish degrees?  Stations for people to charge Smartphones, iPods, iPads, laptops, hand held video games maybe?  Plus free snacks!

I will be the first to admit if we had lost power I'd be complaining and all sorts of irritated.  I also do not think any less of people who lost their power and felt angry at the inconvenience and fled to places with power and warmth.  We're human beings and are used to living a certain way and if those places were available of course they should go.  I would.  When our comfort zone is breached and we are thrust into an uncomfortable situation, of course we'll do anything we can to get back to what we know and love.  Plus some have small children and no parent wants their child(ren) to be cold.  We are fortunate enough to have those options.  Many are not.

I thought last night about what Patrick or any of the other homeless people wouldn't give to have a powerless house with a bed to sleep in during the bitter cold.  I would make the assumption that a home with an internal temperature of say, 40 degrees and no wind could feel like spring to someone whose only shelter from the cold and the wind is a thin, nylon wall.  I wondered too why warming stations were popping up for the inconvenienced yet any other night there are none.  No warming stations for those who face possible frostbite or hypothermia but for those who want to get on Facebook perhaps or keep up with the work they have for their jobs or who are chilly.  Made me really stop and think - hard.

In just a few months I'll be heading down to Haiti and visiting places that will take me WAY out of my comfort zone.  It'll be hot and I most likely will have none or almost no access to air conditioning.  I will be sharing 1 or 2 bathrooms with 15 people - most I've pretty much just met within the past few weeks.  We will have food but I'm guessing there is going to be stuff I either have to eat despite not liking it or else I won't eat or will eat very little.  I thought about that last night as I looked around at all the comforts we (my household) have that truly, are incredibly unnecessary to survive.  They're just real nice to have.

Then I thought about Patrick again.  I thought about whether or not he woke up each morning already dreading the cold night he knew was ahead of him.  I wondered if despite his situation whether he praised God for what he did have, even if it is very little.  I wondered about the folks who lost power and if they still thanked God despite their irritation.  I wondered if I would still praise God if I had been one of the people who didn't have power and were also inconvenienced.  I wondered if we all truly woke up tomorrow with only what we thanked God for today who would have more?  Patrick or us?

I suppose I write all this to say we all need to stop and take a moment to look around at all God has provided us.  God will provide everything we need but that doesn't always mean God thinks we need what we think we need.  We are not promised a perfectly happy life but rather a life that WILL bring troubles.  Do we continue to praise God when we're facing a storm?  Do I?  Do we remember to be grateful for what we do have knowing many people in the world have so much less?  Do I?

Winter isn't over yet and the forecast is not only calling for winter precipitation this weekend but also sometime next week.  When it falls, it will fall on trees, bushes, cars, roads, homes and tents.  Tents that people live in because they do not have anywhere else to go.  Tents that for some, might be the only thing standing between them and frostbite or hypothermia or even death.

I pray all of us remember people like Patrick while crews work to restore the power lost to so many and that we continue to remember after this storm has past, power is restored and people are able to watch snow fall from inside warm and toasty homes.  I pray I continue to remember.