Snow Day!!!!!

This winter has had its fair share of snow, which has resulted in a few snow days. Although I have not been teaching for 4 years, a snow day still gets me all excited!! I eagerly anticipate them, checking the weather the night before and checking the news the morning of, to see if the schools in the area have a snow day. And when school is cancelled, my heart beats a little faster as I am excited for a day off! That is, until I hear "Mom, can I come out of bed??".

Snow days weren't always exciting. Way back when I was a kid, a snow day was actually not very fun at all. It would be a day filled with tension, walking around in hushed tones, tiptoeing so as not to wake my dad or some of the employees that were crashed at our house to catch up on some much needed sleep before they had to go snow clear again. My dad owned a landscaping company, which included snow clearing in the winter. That business was in the basement of our house, with a two-way radio and business phone in our kitchen. And let me tell you, that two-way radio and phone were ringing off the hook all day and night, whenever there was a storm. So yeah, I can't believe I am saying this, but I think as kids we preferred to be at school.

Today, that business is now run by my hubby. But there are many changes: the office is now across the driveway and two-way radios have been replaced with blackberries and cell phones. There is also no business line in the house anymore, which I am so thankful for!!! And although I don't get a snow day per se, the day is very different as the day is filled with cooking and baking for the hard-working guys.

This week we saw another storm. We missed the last big one as we were down in Mexico. This storm was a hard one to predict as the temperatures were wavering around 0. All we knew was a lot of precipitation was heading our way; we just didn't know if it'd be snow or rain. Well, we got the snow! and we got dumped on good!!! Thankfully not all the areas were dumped on this much! We not only got a tonne of snow in height, but also in weight. And it got heavier by the hour as it continued to fall.

And while it looked so pretty......

....the snow became just too heavy. It took down a large evergreen tree on our property, uplifting even the roots:

It snowed Tuesday night, all day Wednesday and was still snowing this morning. This morning we woke up and noticed the damage the snow did to our pool cover, a pool cover that is supposed to be able to hold an elephant or two:

The snow has stopped now, leaving us with a very wet foot or so of it. Despite the damage, the snow still looks so beautiful as it covers everything.

Seeing how white everything looks, I can't help but think of the comfort we have through the work of our Saviour:

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1: 18 NIV)

and one of my favourite Psalms, this one being written by David after realizing his sin (after the prophet, Nathan showed him his error) with Bathsheba:

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." (Ps. 51: 7)

It's the assurance of the forgiveness of sins that I think of when I look outside. Whiter than snow??! Do you see how white that snow is? Whiter yet??! Wow, what a loving and gracious and merciful God we have!