It’s going to be a potentially BIG SNOW for Northwestern NC tonight and tomorrow. Snow is to begin following around 5-6 pm tonight and pick up in intensity through the evening with heavy snow (one inch an hour rates) by midnight. We’re looking for 10″ totals. The only “fly in the ointment” could be the development of thunderstorms along the gulf states. If that happens, those storms could rob some of the streaming moisture into the state and limit or knock down our snow totals into more of the 5″-8″ totals. We’ll be able to tell later today as the storm gets ramped up and starts pulling in gulf moisture. But, either way…expect snow…and plenty enough for the kids to go sledding by late evening and certainly tomorrow.
Ok…so do I sound like a weatherman? Yep…anyone that know me knows I’m a weather nut. When the Blizzard of ’93 hit…I was taping the Weather Channel Reports and Weatherman Eric Thomas on WBTV-Channel 3. I knew it was going to be a big storm and it was. I drove through Hugo in ’89 and honestly I really am a little “nutty” when it comes to weather. Currently, I”m a “Weather Watcher” for WXII-12 in Winston-Salem, NC. It’s a lot of fun. I have a spreadsheet that I document the high, the low, precipitation, type and wind gusts for each day. I report that information to WXII each afternoon around 4 pm.
So, why do you like weather so much? I’m not sure. I’ve loved weather watching since I was a kid. I learned a lot about weather in a class I had at Appalachian State my freshman year. It was a geography class…but, the professor loved weather…so, we talked a lot about weather, cloud formations, etc. And I guess as I think about it…weather is intriguing to me because there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. I mean think about it. Can man control anything about the weather? Can we stop this storm coming? Absolutely not. All man is to the weather is simply an observer. There is nothing man can do about the weather. It’s going to happen no matter what we say or do. Why? Because God is in control of the weather. 100% control!
You know this is comforting to me. And honestly, it comforts me about my own life and my own situation. If I’ll let Him, God will control me just like He controls the weather. He will orchestrate what needs to happen in my life if I’ll just relax and let Him do the work as I rest in Him. You know, “life” is going to happen to us all and there is nothing we can do about it. So, let’s be like a child…(my children are bouncing off of the walls wanting to go sledding again) and enjoy the storm. Enjoy the storm? Yes…enjoy the storm. The Apostle Paul did in Scripture. He said in Ephesians 5:20 that we should live “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Did you catch that? We are to ALWAYS give thanks to God for EVERYTHING. Always and everything. That pretty much covers it all does it not? We are to be thankful 100% of the time. Ouch! I wish he had said we should give thanks just when we “felt like it.” Or we should give thanks when everything is going right and all the bills are paid, the cars are all running, the home team is winning, the income tax refund is in the mail. But, that’s not what he said is it? He said, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “ Whew! Is that hard for you? It sure is for me. I mean who wants to give thanks when the tire on the car is flat in the garage. But, think about it…it’s better than it being flat in the Wal-Mart parking lot when it’s pouring the rain or it going flat on the freeway. Right?
We should be thankful even when we don’t have enough money to pay the bills. Yes…always and in everything the Bible says…”be thankful.” But, how can we be thankful for having no money? Well, be thankful for what you do have. If you have your health…then you have your wealth. All the money in the world can’t replace your health. Be thankful that you can work with folks in most cases to get your bills paid on a payment plan or perhaps someone may come along and help you out of a bind. This has happened to me numerous times and I bet it has for you too. I mean think about it. Has God ever let you down? Ever? Even just once? The answer is unequivocally NO. He doesn’t let us down…we let ourselves down and He comes and picks us back up, dusts us off and puts us back on the right path again. Amen? So, we should always be thankful…in everything.
Think about Mary. Mary broke the expensive perfume bottle and poured it all over Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. Why? Just to lavish thanksgiving and praise upon our Lord. The “gift” of thanksgiving through her action filled the house with such a sweet smell. Funny how that works. When we pour out a perfume of kind encouragement in our homes to our wives and children, in our workplaces, ball fields, etc…boy that gratitude really “fills the house,” so to speak, with a sweet fragrance doesn’t it? So we can be thankful at all times and “perfume” the air around us…or we can “stink it up” with our negative…complaining attitudes.
So, the storm is coming…cold, snow, wind. Yes…it will mean shoveling…clearing the driveway…cold mornings. But, think about it…it also means…seeing the beauty of a landscape draped in white…reminding me that my sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus and I’m whiter than snow. As you watch the snow fall later this evening and tonight. Be thankful! Be grateful for a Heavenly Father that is in 100% control. He’s got the weather and He’s got you. “For I will give rest to the weary and satisfy the faint.” Jeremiah 31:25
So, enjoy!! It’s Gonna SNOW!!!