PROVERBS 16:9

Snow on Sunday? Snow in the Deep South? Snow before the D.C. Global Warming March?

I already made my plans for Sunday. Ads told me four Wii game systems were on sale at each Walmart location. Over the steering wheel I asked God for a direct, safe route to the store that had at least one system for me. The van could travel four compass points so ubiquitous are Wally’s Worlds here.

Buddy and his new friend Math joined me on the trip. Math, a Nintendo-Wii gamer, is another special young man with a social list of twenty friends on speed dial. On that list, he added Buddy. So cool for Buddy to have a friend who read words and knew numbers a bit better than he. So cool for Math to come shopping with Bud’s mom who was Wii clueless, but wanted the guys to enjoy gaming at her house.

Earlier we sat at the contemporary service. After closing the drummer announced, “Hey, there’s a meeting outside...snowball fight!” During service, snowflakes fell, thick enough to blanket on rooftops, dry lawns, parked cars, and pine boughs. Bud and Math grinned as coatless teens chased each other, with snowballs in gloveless hands. One soaked guy hurried inside and explained, “I’m waiting for my hands to un-freeze so I can get my car keys out of my pocket.”

The Deep South temperatures rose above freezing. So after supper out, a stop at home, and the afternoon shopping trip, I sighed as the snow blanket had all but disappeared from the front yard.

Still the last Wii in stock was ours! MBH (my beloved hubby) said he’d install the system with me. We had the HDTV, but we also had an ancient DVD player with no HDMI port. Like Buddy, Math knew when to be quiet and when to voice suggestions. Four hours later, Math had to go hom. The Wii lights blinked, but the TV was silent black—So much for my plan.

While we fought cables indoors, God played outside, tossing millions of snowflakes over our neighborhood. Across the street bundled kids rolled balls into tiny snow people. Teens threw balls. Where was my son while we fought cables?

Buddy joined the outdoor delight. He got his mom’s camera wet, recording the Winter Wonderland before it melted away.

The next day I learned the storm moved up the frigid U.S. Eastern seaboard, canceling the planned Global Warming March.

The trouble with humane plans is the human in them. Many mornings I’ve constructed grand scenarios before I said “Good morning” to God. God orchestrates the best plans for me, for all humanity. In my heart I may plan my course, but God determines my steps, steps within the footprints of the One and Only Son.

Jesus’ holy footprints will outlast
any carbon footprints we leave
on a tiny planet that will yield
to a new earth and perfect heaven.