Three feet of Snow

Matt called from UVa- he would not be coming home yet from college as his car was buried under three feet of snow. In fact, it was still snowing and I suspect we may not see him til the Spring. If he had left Thursday, like I suggested..... but I am not upset or anything like that..... he would be home with his family roasting chestnuts on an open fire. Instead, he is stranded with little food, few businesses open, and a weather report that doesn't look promising despite the global warming that is frying the other parts of the world.

As if I wasn't nervous enough about my dear son driving through the treacherous mountains in winter, the forecast in our area was ominous:
"We might possibly perhaps maybe get an ice storm with the potential possibility of perceivably plausible almost likely feasible accumulation of 1- 100 inches of snow." This was a typical winter forecast in Charlotte, certain to send hordes of shoppers braving the elements for bread and toilet paper. It had double angst production for me, as I was worried about Matt ever coming home again with such dire weather forecasts, and we had to travel an hour south the next day to attend Hollow Creek Farm Open House. Since Arvo was the back up Santa, our presence was critical. How would we make it through all the ice?

However, surprisingly, not a nanosecond of snowfall materialized and the roads were clear and ice free in Charlotte this morning. We went to the open house, and my friend Roxan and I had a wonderful time walking the dogs that needed potty breaks during the festivities. As we were happily chatting and the dogs were delighted to be roaming further than their typical walks allowed, we suddenly spied a shirt on the edge of a ditch. We both slammed to a stop, and said, "That is odd." Roxan feared there might be a body somewhere near the shirt, and we nervously glanced around, but there was not. The shirt was neatly lying by the ditch, a pattern of doves all over it, and disembodied hands reaching to the doves, in prayer.

I reminded Roxan that God is always sending messages, but we so often don't understand what He is saying. At the moment, I could not for the life of me understand what this symbol might mean. However, many hours later, I realized that my Bible study that morning had been about Joseph, and how his brothers had tossed him in the well, and then brought his many colored coat back to their father to convince him that Joseph was dead. But Joseph was not dead, and went on to rise to a position of power in Egypt and ultimately save his family and the Israelites from starvation in the ensuing famine. The empty coat became a symbol of apparent disaster turned into victory and salvation.

I often assume the worst, prepare for the disaster.... and then like the anticipated ice storm, it doesn't come.
Sometimes a shirt with doves and the hand of God on it does not mean there is a dead body nearby. Sometimes it just means that someone who thought they were in the bottom of a well, are instead being prepared for a great task they never envisioned. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's you.