January Frustrating Flurries

Frustrating Flurries

By: Dr. Jeff Fuller

 

A few weeks ago we went to bed with the weather forecasters saying there would be flurries of snow in our little corner of the world.  In that moment of time we were expecting to see snow accumulations to the south of us and a sight dusting in our area.  Snow in south Alabama?

Snow in south Alabama is laughable.  We might see snow of any significance in Central Alabama once every ten or more years, then in north Alabama we will hear about it every so often, but snow in south Alabama is wrong.  Really, can one imagine snow in Daphne, Mobile, Troy, or Dothan?  Yes, there will be flurries from time to time in Auburn, Montgomery, or Demopolis and only a dusting.

The news said that the focus would b along a line from Demopolis, across to Clinton County, Coosa County and east.  It was an imaginary line looking like a rattlesnake crawling along the floor of the woods of Coosa County.  It sent kids to bed dreaming of a winter wonderland, the Governor calling the special election off, and all of the adults praying nothing would come of it the next day.  Oh, and Coosa County Schools were scheduled to dismiss at noon.

At the Fuller house we prepared for school.  Savannah and I headed out to the truck for the drive to school, but once I stepped out of the garage I sent her back into the house, because it was sleeting.  Standing in front of our two vehicles, the sleet was falling hard and steady, covering the cars and the concrete drive and parking lot.  I had a sinking feeling…

Leaving Savannah with her mother I left the house and did not return until around 2:00 that afternoon.  I found a great deal of individuals who were frustrated by the flurries. These were individuals who found themselves off the road, or being caught in an accident, or unable to climb a hill covered in snow and ice.  Others were stranded, unable to find a way to places like Albertville, Alabama or Birmingham, or Atlanta, or Kentucky.  But it was supposed to be just a dusting; a few flurries!

A week later, we were facing another round of potential weather to the north of us.  Predictions were made, alerts were issued, and everyone thought we might be in for another situation like the week before.   In our area it was too warm for anything to stick but snow was reported in Rockford and Hanover.  School let out at 2:30 as a precaution, because sleet was forming to the northwest in places like Tuscaloosa, and east in Alexander City. 

Someone said one time, about living in the south, “If you don’t like the weather, wait an hour and it will change.”  There is a great deal of truth to that statement.  You may find it raining and sixty degrees in the morning on the drive to work and then by middle of the afternoon there will be temperatures in the upper thirty’s with a shivering chill in the wind.

Yet, times like we have lived in the past two weeks, we become much more frustrated over the weather.  It is hard to predict and sometimes even harder to understand.

Frustrated, there were many who ran out to the store for the items most Alabamians go for at the time of snow or ice being in the forecast.  A run to Wal-Mart, Dollar General, or “The Pig” is made to retrieve the two most important of all items needful for sustaining potential winter weather-bread and milk.  If you have ever found yourself in any store the day after a winter storm warning, you will find the shelves empty in the bread aisle.

I heard there was a new deal some grocery stores were offering in the south, which might not be a bad deal after all.  A store in the Birmingham area was selling snow shovels.  Snow shovels?  Another was offering a ten percent discount on a sled, with the purchase of two loaves of bread and a gallon of milk.  Still another was offering a combination deal: two gallons of milk, one loaf of white bread, one loaf of wheat bread, and a carton of eggs.

      All of this, as I drove along the snow covered roads of the county, made me think of God.  I was thinking that us worrying about snow or ice was not what God desired.  He told us not to worry, but we are southerners and that is a trait we are awfully good developing.  Yet, I was thinking what was written in the book of Job, “For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.” (Job 37:6 KJV)

He sends the rain, snow, sleet, ice in His time.  We may have those who attempt to make predictions but in the end, it is God who does as He wills and for His purposes.  Again, it is written in the book of Job:

“However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and would present my case to Him. He does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields. He sets the lowly on high, and mourners are lifted to safety. He frustrates the schemes of the crafty so that they achieve no success. He traps the wise in their craftiness so that the plans of the deceptive are quickly brought to an end. They encounter darkness by day, and they grope at noon as if it were night. He saves the needy from their sharp words and from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. See how happy the man is God corrects; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty. For He crushes but also binds up; He strikes, but His hands also heal. He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven. In famine He will redeem you from death, and in battle, from the power of the sword.” (Job 5:8-20 HCSB)

            Remember those words the next time you hear about undesirable weather threatening your little corner of the world.

            If you will excuse me, I need to run and find that flyer about the bread and milk combo deal, because I just saw James Spann and he said we were heading into some very strange weather indeed in the next few weeks.  And of course, the ground hog saw his shadow.

            Until next time…