The cold wind of an Arctic Blast is blowing through South Georgia today. I’m a little excited about it myself. Weather forecasts say that temperatures will reach the teens and we will get to experience a cold that we don’t see very often down here. Friends, I live with two teens. If you ever want to experience frigid weather just show up at my house and wait until I tell somebody, No. Seriously though, our school board has canceled school, and tomorrow students across Pierce County will have one more day of Christmas break. Fun, fun, fun. Now if they could just have a little snow to go with the cold.
Now there are a lot of people that this type of weather will inconvenience, but there are very few that it will directly affect. It will inconvenience those of us who were ready for the children to troop back to school. It will inconvenience those of us who’s houses were built in the 20th century – we will have to add an extra blanket or two to the bed. It will inconvenience those of us (you) who will have to cover plants to keep them from freezing. It will inconvenience those of us who will have to leave multiple faucets on in the house to ensure that our pipes don’t burst/bust.
Therefore I want to take a moment to give a brief PSA: Do those things mentioned above, and more if necessary. Also, in the interests of beautiful ice pictures leave a sprinkler running somewhere in your yard.
There are, however, very few people that this will affect adversely. There are certainly some farmers who would hope that this freeze wouldn’t happen due to crops/equipment being affected. There are individuals who may live in housing which will be greatly affected, and they will suffer.
I have found that these minor inconveniences of life have gone a long way towards revealing my attitude towards others, and specifically towards God. You see, when it is 100º for 3 days in a row in August I tend to focus on how “bad” the heat is. Yet, four months later I find myself doing the same thing when the gauge hovers between 30-40.
What does 12º weather show about my relationship to God? Well, for starters, it goes a long ways towards showing how self-obsessed I can be. It also goes a long way towards showing how cold-hearted I can be to the needs of others. These things reveal a heart focused on its personal kingdom and not on the things of the Kingdom of God.
So, it’s getting cold outside, and it’s just going to get colder over the next day or so. Which will be worse; the weather or the attitudes that accompany the weather?
Seek Understanding 