This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

I know what some of you are thinking – especially those who live in the higher latitudes. “It’s a picture of a street covered with snow, along with some tire tracks. So what’s the big deal?”

The big deal is that we just don’t see this kind of snow event here in eastern North Carolina. Saturday night’s storm dumped almost a foot of the fluffy stuff on Tarboro for the first time in forever.

Besides, a fresh snowfall really is beautiful.

Fact is, we always pay more attention when something is different or out of the ordinary. We work so hard to keep life predictable, and to make sure that our experiences are exactly the same, that when it’s not we’re unsure what to do. We call these disruptions either natural disasters or vacations!

I think about this a lot, as what I write about tends to lean in the direction of what is unusual or unexpected. And the times in my life where I have learned the most, when I have grown as a person, have also been the challenges, the unexpected, the “off-script” and the disruptive.

So here is the question: Should we strive to live exclusively in the wide swath of “normalcy,” on-script, steering as close to the middle of the bell-shaped curve as possible – where everything is predictable and manageable and safe?

Or are we open to more adventure in our lives?

While we think about that let’s crank the temperatures back up above freezing and melt off some of this snow. I think that was quite enough for this winter! – DEREK

Scroll through for some fun pics!