Sunday, while much of the Southeast was getting pummeled by a serious winter storm, Wake Forest came through essentially unscathed. We got all the warnings, the dire predictions, the state of emergency, and the closed churches. But we saw very little in the way of severe weather.

It was snowing lightly in the early morning, followed by sleet, followed by icy rain, followed by cold rain, and accompanied by gusty winds. It would be more accurately described, to use one of my favorite weather phrases, as “a little British out there” than anything else.

Ah, the memories of England in January. 38-degrees, persistent day-long rain and having to ride my bike somewhere! Or playing soccer, back when the ball wasn’t water resistant and got heavier the longer it rained! Getting hit in the face with a cold, waterlogged ball with the temperature in the 30’s! Thankful to be in the starting line-up and not the substitute jumping up and down on the sidelines trying to maintain feeling in your extremities.

Winter Days:

Here in Wake Forest Sunday was a good day to go to church on-line, drink lots of hot tea, eat potato soup, and spend the afternoon playing Scrabble with The Ancients next door.

Scrabble tends to play out best with my parents working together (well… dad “consults” with mum and keeps his eye on the board). It doesn’t matter how complex the words are, or who gets the best score, or if a few unique British spellings work their way in, it’s just a good experience all around.

Mum likes to use her eyes as an explanation for everything. The letters on the board get shifted around; she plays off an “m” like it’s a “w”; the double letter gets counted as a triple word…! I laughed about the day a “third” blank tile showed up when my dad was winning a narrowly contested game. It turned out he had “accidentally” turned a tile over, magically creating the “s” needed to play all seven letters in one turn.

“You have to remember dad doesn’t think that clearly,” my mum said.

“It was 1986!” I reminded her, “he was only 58!“

One Day at a Time:

Regardless, winter storm or cold and rainy day, we always understand that “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” or, as the NIV so insightfully phrases Psalm 118:24, “The Lord has done it this very day!”

And what is it that God has done? Well, from my point of view God has (and continues to) loved me, placed me in this family, equipped me with the resources necessary to enjoy life one day at a time, and given me a continual purpose.

For all this I am grateful – DEREK