ONE DROP AT A TIME

One tiny snowflake softly floated down from the gray winter sky. It seemed lonely at first as it gently rested on a blade of grass. Shortly after that, another snowflake drifted down toward the earth, swaying back and forth in a casual motion. It wasn’t long before several more flakes drifted from the skies above to join them. Soon, more snowflakes were falling at a faster rate, until the ground had a layer of snow covering it like a thin white sheet. The snow continued to fall throughout the night and left a thick blanket of wet snow that covered everything in sight.  

By morning, a heavy eight inches of snow overwhelmed everything beneath it. The sky was clear and quickly lightened as the sun rose. As the sun gleamed down, the bright white snow reflected the blinding light in every direction, making it difficult to look directly at the snow without sunglasses or through a tightly squinted eye. Warm rays of sunlight began to slowly melt a fallen snowflake causing it to condense. A single droplet of water formed as several more flakes condensed. The warmth from within our house kept drops of water liquid as they trickled down to the roof’s edge. Clinging to the edge, the liquid froze in place. The sun continued to melt each snowflake and one by one, droplets of water made it to the edge of the roof. Each droplet of water made it just a little bit further than the previous one before it froze in place. The next morning, icicles ranging from six inches to six feet long hung from the roof’s edge.

When even the smallest items built together, they can have an incredible growing impact.

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, make the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

ARE YOU LISTENING

Listening to what people are saying is a very beneficial skill that comes easy to some, but usually not so easy for adolescents.

Dad was always good about taking my brothers and I fishing when we were younger. It was an affordable way to keep the four of us entertained, and most times we brought home a bunch of fish, which was also an affordable way to fill our seemingly bottomless pits for stomachs.

The situation of icing and gear looked something like this - Dad and my uncle built an ice fishing house big enough for about 2 adults and 4-5 kids (it was pretty sweet for the early 1980’s.) When the ice was at least 12 inches thick we’d haul the fish house onto an area lake, drill holes down through the ice that lined up with holes in the bottom of the fish house, put the house over those holes, turn on the propane heater, and start fishing. Each of us had a little fishing pole. We’d put a worm on the hook and lower the line down the hole. It was then just a matter of waiting for the bobber to go down, setting the hook, and pulling up a fish.

On one occasion, my dad drilled a hole about 30 yards away from the fishing house. He set up a “tip up,” which is a device that when a large enough fish takes the bait, it releases (tips up) a flag into the air letting you know a fish is there. In hopes of luring in a big fish, Dad loaded the hook of the tip up with a large sucker minnow.

After an hour of fishing the sun was starting to set, and we had already caught several fish by this time.  Suddenly, Dad yelled, “TIP UP!” He hurdled over two kids and much of the equipment that was between him and the door like a finely trained olympic athlete. Busting out the door of the fish house, he ran to the tip up and started pulling up line. The rest of us watched through the window and door in awe. After what seemed like an eternity, Dad starting yelling something at us while waving his arm. Without listening, we ran out to him to see what all the commotion was about. As we got close to him, he turned toward us and yelled, “I said, GET THE GAFF!” (A gaff is a stick with a large hook on the end of it. Ours was an old broom handle with a large hook duct taped to the end.) One of us finally came to our senses, ran back to the fish house, retrieved the gaff and gave it to Dad. He extended his entire arm and the gaff down the hole into the water, and in a quick jerk, he hoisted the biggest Northern Pike I’d ever seen, up through the hole and onto the ice. It was awesome!

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

MAKE THE BEST OF A CHILLY SITUATION

This will come as no surprise to you, but it’s been really cold in the upper Midwest this past week. Everybody is talking about it, and most people are probably getting tired of hearing about it. Nevertheless, I’m going to blog about it because there are some really cool things that can be seen and done due to the extreme cold.

The first one that caught my eye was a picture that captured spectacular Sun Dogs. A friend took it on the way home after his morning workout. Sun dogs occur when tiny moisture particulates in the air freeze and reflect the sun's rays causing a spectrum of colors. The air is frozen! Take a few breaths and let that sink in.

Photo Credit: Chris Richardson   

The next few items are ways that show how people can be creative by finding ways to enjoy the extreme cold.

To begin with, there is a couple of brothers who build detailed snow sculptures every year. First of all, they need snow, and second, they need it to be cold, so the snow doesn't melt. No problem with it melting when it's below zero.

 2018/19 Bartz Snow Sculptures

The next one is a fun project to do with kids. Take balloons, fill them with water and food coloring, then let them freeze. Once frozen, cut away the balloon. Some call them dinosaur eggs...makes sense to me. Who would have thought water balloons would be fun all year round.

The final one I'll share shows that it has been so cold, your pants will freeze. A guy in our neighborhood started this project many years ago. This year, I wanted to give it a try. I ran a couple pairs of jeans through the wash to get them thoroughly wet, then brought them outside.With the air temperature at -25 degrees, it only took three minutes for the pants to freeze. I shaped them as fast as possible, then stuck them in the snow. 

Photo credit: My work pants

I'd be interested to see how you make the most of a chilly situation outdoors.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.