I don’t know about you, but I was feeling pretty good about my winter storm preparations this weekend.  I had heeded the warning issued a couple of weeks ago by the most famous of weather prognosticators, “Punxsutawney Phil”, who told us in his own way that Spring was not just around the corner.  I was ready.  My pipes were re-wrapped, there was food in the house.  And besides, one of the advantages of living south of Interstate-12 is that it was looking as though our little village was going to avoid most of the bad stuff.  Yes, we are more vulnerable to hurricanes down here.  But “Old Man Winter” rarely shows his grizzled face in these parts.

So, feeling good and safe and secure, I settled into my chair Sunday afternoon to relax and watch a little golf being played at the beautiful Pebble Beach Golf Links on the famous Monterrey Peninsula in California.  My wife checked in on family members who live on both sides of Northern Arkansas, and who were facing temperatures well below freezing, with snow falling and ice accumulating, and with much lower temperatures rapidly approaching.  My brother in Jonesboro, AR had already waited in a line of last-minute “preppers” at Wal-Mart that stretched halfway around the perimeter of the store to gather needed supplies.  “Tell him to move down here”, I laughed as I drank cold lemonade, and munched on chips and dip, safe and fully prepared for anything this storm could throw my way. 

You know what’s not a lot of fun?  It’s not any fun when you come to the sudden realization that you are actually NOT as prepared for something as you thought you were.  And, that “not fun” feeling gets even worse when you realize that it is now too late to take care of the problem that could have easily been handled if you’d just given the matter even the slightest bit of thought just a little bit before.       

As you can probably already guess, this is exactly what happened to me late Sunday afternoon.  It finally hit me, and my eyes were finally opened, and I finally realized that this gigantic winter storm was actually going to reach its icy tentacles easily as far south as Baton Rouge.  And, while everything was probably ready at my house in Mandeville for what is likely to happen here, my Mother’s house in Baton Rouge [which is my responsibility] was absolutely NOT prepared for what is going to happen there.  And yes, by the time this realization came to me, it was too late to safely drive there to get things ready.  The roads were already icing up, and I, and pretty much everybody else in Louisiana, have no experience or ability to drive safely in such conditions.  I was stuck.  I could not help myself out of this mess.  And, it was all so avoidable.  A little more thinking, and a little less self-congratulations on being so wise in my own eyes, and this huge problem would have been easily avoided.  Instead, I was caught unprepared.  Ouch!   

You know what helps in situations like this?  Having someone you can count on, someone who can fix your mistakes, someone who doesn’t laugh at you, or point fingers at you, or pass judgment on you when you mess up everything.  My sister-in-law and brother-in-law, who live in Baton Rouge, were happy to ride to my rescue and take care of the things I had messed up.  What a blessing!  What a gift!  What a show of overflowing love!

OK, there are a lot of spiritual lessons here.  Jesus made it His business to tell people to be ready, to not be caught unprepared.  Funny, we don’t seem to spend a lot of time talking about these things do we?  Maybe we believe that we’re already all ready, and maybe some of us are.  But, everybody?  Probably not.  Or, maybe we think there’s plenty of time to get ready, and there’s no reason to worry about it right now – there will be time for all of that preparation stuff later.  I hope that’s not the case, because such thinking is foolish – “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12.  “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14.  “You do not know the day or the hour that the groom will come.”  – Matthew 25:13.  My friends, let us not be caught unprepared.   

But another side of the lesson which I [hopefully] learned this weekend is this: how do you think I feel about my in-laws who rescued me from my own lack of preparation?  Do you think it’s going to occur to me to take advantage of their love and their willing and helpful hearts?  It shouldn’t [though, this being a fallen world, and me being a foolish and fallen man, it just might].  Instead, shouldn’t my reaction be gratefulness and an inclination to show my gratitude in some way?  I hope that will describe me.

 And I know that describes the way you respond to God’s rescue of you.  Thank you for showing me the way.

PS – Want to hear a little irony?  Just as I finished typing this note late Monday afternoon, I received an email that was sent out at 5:07 PM Central Time from our Insurance Company which is physically located in Wisconsin where, if anywhere, people ought to be fully aware of winter storms and the dangers to insurable premises that they produce.  The email says: “Record cold temperatures are here!  Prepare your facilities now.”  Um, thanks, I guess?               

Ambrose Ramsey | Shepherd