A Frozen World

 

 February 27^th was Al’s  80^th birthday, a day when sunshine and warm weather were hoped for. Unfortunately, the storm that hit the west a few days earlier with snow and rain arrived in Michigan just in time for the big occasion. It was our third round of freezing rain in the last month or so.

It was not a good day for family to come out of their warm houses and brave the icy roads to attend a birthday dinner given in his honor. I prayed hard for the wind to die down and the sleet to stop by dinnertime!

The first thing that came to my attention after the earliest storm was the beauty of the world around me. While walking TJ our dog late one afternoon, he stopped near a fence that was lined with shrubs and a couple of pine trees. Backlit by the sun, the pine needles looked like gleaming bundles of icicles.

As I looked more closely, I noticed that everything was encased in ice. Droplets of water had frozen on the tips of leaves and on the under sides of the phone lines. The sidewalk was slippery too.  TJ and I had to proceed on our way with caution, although he has more stability with four feet on the ground compared to my two. Thankfully I stayed vertical!

As the sun set that evening, the trees in the cemetery to our west looked like they were strung with tiny twinkling Christmas tree lights. It was a magical world, in a way reminding me of the land of Narnia from the movie “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” (CS Lewis)

Narnia was ruled by the White Witch, “Queen of Narnia,” who had cast an evil spell over the land. It was always winter without even a promise of spring and never the hope of Christmas… until one day help arrived!

Looking east the morning after that first storm, everything was still frozen. There were long icicles on the wires by that time and the Arbor Vitae along the fence in the backyard were all leaning in the same direction, encased in ice and unable to break free.

“Hard on the trees,” wrote our friend Marge, from her tree farm in Illinois.

Thankfully none of the tall evergreens had toppled over and there had been no loss of power in our neighborhood, truly an answer to prayer. Then along came another storm, again bringing freezing rain. This time more damage was done, especially to the old maple trees that had become weakened and diseased through the years.

When out walking with TJ a few days later, all the ice had melted away; however there was evidence of the freeze everywhere—broken limbs, piles of branches, sawed up logs. Wind and freezing rain were a bad combination.

Many of our friends had stories to tell of power outages that lasted up to four days. Wires laden down with ice were easily snapped and the signals at some intersections were out, creating the potential for bad accidents.

            So, did everyone make it safely to Al’s party? They did! And the rain had stopped by then as well. Praise the Lord!

In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the witch’s spell over the land was broken when four special children made an accidental discovery of Narnia, causing the return of Aslan. Aslan was a majestic talking lion, the true king of Narnia.

“Aslan is on the move!” was the cry that echoed through the land as it began to reawaken and thaw. Then began a cataclysmic fight between the White Witch and Aslan that finally ended with the demise of the witch and a new era for Narnia.

When the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His return, He said that there would be wars, natural disasters, religious persecution and an increase of wickedness on the earth. Even many of those who loved Him would turn away from their faith; however, the good news of Jesus would be preached world-wide.

He encouraged His followers to stand strong, to be steadfast and love Him wholeheartedly. May we stand firm to the end. Jesus is on the move!

 

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24: 12-14 NIV