Ice, Ice, everywhere!

The current condition here in my neck of the woods is...ice, icy, raining and freezing, slippery, messy, sloppy, slushy, ______, ________, ________. Our school district is trying out the new 'three hour delay' option. We'll probably need it!

This latest storm started out mildly enough; it snowed. Ooooo, Pretty!

As time went along, temperatures began to climb and sometime during the night, snow turned to rain.

This morning we awoke to a world enrobed in ice which is quite beautiful and dangerous! Dangerous but beautiful is a two headed entity. On one hand the creativity of nature is absolutely unmatched. The ground and trees are adorned with exquisite beauty and all because rain fell from the sky onto 'below freezing' objects.

On the other hand, roadways are unpredictable, and the same beautiful trees can become liabilities. When the ice build-up surpasses the tensile strength of those limbs and branches, bad things occur. Oh, and I haven't mentioned all the electrical lines and communication lines that have the same ice coating.

Well, anyway, when a tree reaches it's optimum weight bearing load, eventually something might have to give. Snap, down comes the tree limb. Anything below the falling limb will be damaged or hurt.

Nearing the end of our first week of Lent, it is time to pause and consider areas of our life that have become encased in an icy covering. What started out innocently and maybe even looked beautiful early on has now begun to weigh heavily upon our faith, our relationships, and our overall life.

Without risking a catastrophe, let's gently inspect our limbs of influence.

1. Is our relationship with God as open and strong as it can be?

2. Are the relationships within our family as peaceful and happy as they can be?

3. Are we productive at work and striving toward new career goals and dreams?

4. Is our desire to serve God energized and effective?

5. Where has ice crept into our life?

"So, as the Holy Spirit says:“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the

rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,..." (Hebrews 3:7-8a, NIV)

Are we willing to seek help in melting the icy detriment to our heart and mind. God seeks to refresh our soul and give us blessings of joy. Let's invite the Holy Spirit to warm burdened areas of our life and relieve over-stressed relationships and schedules.

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be

with you all."

PS: The school just called and they have canceled classes for the day!