Be Careful What You Ask For!!

SNOWING!!!! Nothing new to report on that front, time of year, it is what it is but God taught me a new lesson today. By the grace of God, I am looking to come out of my 6th winter here in South Bend ready to celebrate my 7th spring. I count my time here by the winters.

Each winter has taught me something different because each winter has been different.Been thru the 30 inches of snow falling in 24 hrs, learned we can shovel it. Been thru the $3,000 dollar NIPSCO gas bills in the winter, learned God's got it and we can pay it. Been thru the 114 inches of snow in a winter and learned we gonna make it, spring is coming.

So I have settled in like a Californian has to earthquakes or a Floridian has to hurricanes or an Oklahoman has to a tornado, its part of life living here so snow to the Midwestern is just life, What no one could prepare me for was NO SUN! Here in South Bend near Lake Michigan in the snow belt, we receive heavy clouds coming off the lake, They can stay with you for a day, a week even a month. I have gone 44 days without seeing the sun and YES I COUNTED.

I complained, I fussed, I whined, I pitched a fit, I told the Lord we don't need all these clouds. Be careful what you ask God for. He may give it to you.

A Polar Vortex is sweeping our nation bringing record lows and new "Highs" which are still record lows. It is bringing polar air from Siberia and has plunged thru our nation. The trajectory of this jet stream has caused the clouds that sit over South Bend during this time to be gone. Clear skies, beautiful scenery, bright days full of cold sunshine!

However, I learned that what I have fussed about had benefits. Clouds bring warmth, a certain type of insulation. It prevents temperatures from bottoming out because it provides a blanket.........a covering if you will over the land. I have no covering. God has moved the clouds, just like I asked so a normal 10 degree night turns into -10 as a low and - 35 windchill because their is no covering.

A normal high of 5 degrees is now a high of -6 because there is no longer a covering, The thing I thought was a curse was actually a blessing. I write this blog to speak into some one's life that may be reading this words. Don't know what brought you here but maybe you should rethink the thing you are considering a burden.

Maybe God has left you on this job, left you in this pit, left you in this church, left you in this debt not to hurt you but to protect you from your life bottoming out. You aren't ready for the record lows, the wind chills, the high gas bills so he doesn't remove your clouds, he teaches you to have a sunny day even with a cloudy disposition.

Thank you Lord for my clouds, those things I want removed but you purposed in my life not to hurt me but to help me and hope me,

My clouds:
Protect me from my environment (cold, chills,
Provide for me my essentials (shelter, security, safety)
Be careful what you ask for. He may give it to you and you find yourself no longer living Under the Covering.