House Church Talk - Snowing in Billings Today

[goodwordusa at att.net]

I woke up around 6am this morning and looked outside.  Beautiful snow was 
falling all over Billings, Montana.  In fact' it's still snowing.  Large 
white flakes are drifting down all over town.

What makes this interesting (to me) is that yesterday was Christmas, and for 
the last two weeks or so we've had amazingly mild, almost summer-like weather 
with lots of blue skies and no hint of precipitation.  While radios and CD 
players everywhere were sounding out "White Christmas," the sky remained dry 
and the ground clear.

It seems common for people here to hope for a few things at Christmas.  A lot 
of people want to get together with family, or at least with friends.  The 
times we spend with others at Christmas seem to remain with us as strong 
memories, whether they are good ones or bad ones.  People tend to miss loved 
ones that are separated by great distance or by death.  

Lots of us just hope to see a familiar friendly face.  Others are hoping for 
some special present, or a bonus, or maybe even a miracle that will change 
things in some important way.  Sometimes we would be very happy just to see a 
little progress in life, some glimmer of hope that tomorrow, or maybe the day 
after, might be better.

My son, down in Houston, TX, is hoping for better things as his hair falls 
out, and he keeps his scheduled visits for chemo, and waits for the radiation 
therapy still to come.  He got a letter last week from his employer claiming 
that they had terminated his employment the day before his insurance would 
have become effective.  So now he must face a legal battle while he's already 
facing a battle for good health and life.

In our apartment building yesterday, here in Billings, a handful of people 
gathered for a common Christmas meal down in the lobby.  My wife and I 
attended.  The afternoon sun was shining in through the front doors and 
Christmas songs were playing on a tiny cassette player that a teenager had 
thought to bring.  We ate turkey and mashed potatoes, some stove-top 
stuffing, and a cheesecake.  

It was a nice meal and a decent time together.  The people began the meal 
with a prayer of thanksgiving to God, even though this was not a "Christian" 
gathering.  We are not even friends, really, just neighbors. But we had 
something in common: we were the people in our building who had no family to 
gather with.

And while only a few remarks were made about the weather, the same thought 
was in every mind: no snow, no white Christmas.  The thought is not really a 
note of sadness, just a very tiny disappointment way back in the very back of 
your thoughts.  

People hope for certain things at Christmas.  If we cannot gather with 
family, then we want to be with friends, if not friends then someone, and if 
not love or happiness, then presents, and if none of the above, then maybe at 
least some snow, or some other thing to bring the "feeling of Christmas."

But Christmas passed for those in central Montana without snow.  And for many 
here there were other more significant things missing. And yet next 
Christmas, we will all get our hopes again, anyway.  I suppose it is part of 
the North American Christmas tradition.  One expects and hopes, and then the 
big day finally comes and goes, and one goes back to real life again.

The snow is still falling.  It's truly beautiful, getting deeper by the 
minute.  It will cause some accidents, as a few people forget to use more 
caution in their driving and stopping.  

And across town there are faces looking out the windows of their homes and 
offices, and people are thinking, "I wish it would have done this yesterday.  
Maybe the day would've been a little better, a little happier, more special."

But our God is not the merely a God of Christmas traditions.  He is the God 
of all life and all joy.  And He opens the gates of the storehouses in heaven 
to release the snow and the rain as He sees fit.  He is not always quick to 
give us whatever we want.  But He is with us in the day of snow, in the day 
of rain, and in the day of dry earth.

Like Habakkuk said long ago:
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; 
the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the 
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the 
stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my 
salvation.  The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ 
feet, and he will make me to walk upon the high places. (Hab 3:17-19)

Truly, the Lord is always good and we have great cause for rejoicing in His 
salvation, both today and for all eternity.  May we be like David who trained 
himself to rejoice in the Lord no matter how things might seem, as Psalm 103 
shows us.

Sometimes what we're really hoping for comes about the time we're giving up.  
But in every case, the Lord is faithful to all who trust in Him.

Jim