can you see Him here?

i wish i had pictures for this post.

because i don't think you'd get the best picture if even a decent writer (above my skill) was writing this post. sometimes, you just need a picture (and that's not just the business woman in me talking..). but if you've been anywhere in oklahoma these past few days, you most likely encountered snow. as you saw from my 'white Christmas eve' post, we had a very white Christmas (14.1 inches to be exact, which is at least a 10 year record in oklahoma!). so what that meant for my drive to work Christmas morning was double the travel time, 2 changes in route each way, and a guardian angel. i say an angel because i got stuck in the snow on my way to work friday morning. there were 3 cars and a semi, all abandoned, in the middle of an intersection i needed to make a right turn at. i decided to try to take the inside path to make the turn, but as soon as i started that way, i realized there was no way i'd make it. i didn't think at that time to have my brights on, so it wasn't until it was too late that i realized it was the wrong path. i panicked and tried to bail, which landed me straight into a pile of deep snow (granted, i was still in the middle of the road..). there was a car behind me that i tried to wave on so that i would have more room to try to get myself out of the mess i got myself into. i was curious as to why he sat there for a moment, and then surprised when he got out to help me. his first words, "i knew that wasn't going to work", he had the foresight i didn't. but instead of just using his muscle to get me out, he gave me guiding words in how to work my car to properly get me un-stuck. "don't let the wheels spin!" he said, knowing that would only get me deeper. as he pushed my car, and i pushed the gas, we safely got my car on the road again, and i knew i could stop for anything at that moment, even the red light. i can relate this whole experience with God as follows:

1. i didn't see the path ahead me, mostly because i wasn't utilizing my equipment to it's best ability (say, brights). God knows what's down any path and he has well equiped me for the journey, as long as i put my resources to use (the bible, church, Holy Spirit...).

2. when i did figure out it was wrong, i made a quick decision and tried to get out of the path as soon as possible, but a rash decision will sometimes take us from a bad situation to a worse situation.

3. when i was in trouble, i tried to wave by my help, instead of seeking it. this is done many of times when we think we can take God's work into our own hands.

4. just as the man gave me hands-on help, he also helped me with his guiding words. we can sometimes see God's physical intervention in our problem, but let us not forget to listen to His guiding words.

5. my own efforts of spinning the wheels would only have got me deeper and deeper into the snow. sometimes, we spin our wheels trying to fix a problem on our own, when a helping hand is really what we need.

6. with the man's efforts, and mine working together, we easily got the car moving. the combined power of God and God's will in us can make even a difficult task possible.

7. just like i didn't stop at the stoplight.. when your on the right path, don't let anything in this world stop you!

you may not agree with the way i interpreted the above scenario. but for me, it's comforting to know God's ability to help the feeble. it was only on my way home from work today that i really started thinking about God's presence in our "winter blizzard '09". all over facebook, people were hatin' on those who wished for a white Christmas (as if they had any control). but yet, all over town, there were stories of good Samaritans picking up stranded strangers. my boss told us today that she spent a lot of her 5 hour wait while stranded in the car, praying. plans to go and go, see and see, were halted as families were stranded inside and forced to slow down. you can't tell me that God didn't enjoy this. to see the good come out of His children, to hear their voices, and spend time with them as we celebrate His son, His sacrifice's, birth.

so that's my take on our white Christmas. i hope that this finds you all safe, happy, and praising our good Lord. as i finish this post, i'm listing to the new nora jones cd that my husband got me for christmas, and i am all of the above.. safe, happy, and praising our good Lord!