It’s snowed!!!
The entirety (or so it seems) of Britain has been thrown into chaos, billions of pounds have been lost from work hours, there have been lots and lots of all kinds of accidents in the last few days, travel plans have become crammed with uncertainty and it takes me about three hours longer than usual to leave the house after wrapping the girls up until they look like Maggie from The Simpsons, but God, it’s BEAUTIFUL!
I love the snow. It reminds me of walking through snow up to my calves to get to school when I was younger. It reminds me of the times we would have half the church out to our village, which was very close to a great sledging hill; we’d go back to our house to warm up next to the Aga with freshly baked scones and cups of tea. It reminds me of hurling myself down the school playground skid track. When I get to that thought I stop. Maybe my skills have improved… I can now ski down a mountainside – albeit fairly gingerly, but I can do it. Throwing myself down a skid track still appeals to me, but I don’t know if I’d be able to do it! I am taller – further to fall. I am also 16 weeks pregnant, so throwing myself down a skid track would probably fly in the face of medical advice. The exhilaration still stands strong in my memory though, and the laughter when we fell. I just don’t fall so well as an adult.
As children we make mistakes, reflect and move on, learning from our experiences (and sometimes not!). As an adult we too often nurse them, examine and discuss them, reprimanding ourselves for not having done a better job, for not seeing the future or having faulty reasoning. Or we hide them away hoping that no one else will realise what fools we are. I don’t run down the skid track in case I’ll fall – but that’s half the fun at least. I don’t embrace life, or faith, in case I fail, in case I look a fool. But that’s half the fun.
“A life lived in fear is life half lived” (Strictly Ballroom). I remember reading somewhere that we fear the person whose praise we seek. I want to seek the praise of God and embrace life with the fears until the fear disappears and is replaced with exhilaration. I might fall, people might be watching, but if Christ came that we might have life in abundance, I’m sure he meant that we should throw ourselves down a few skid tracks. I’ll stick to the metaphorical ones while I’m pregnant though.
