That Time We Went to Church In A Blizzard

Let me start by saying I had this post all but done and I added another photo and deleted the whole post. In the words of my husband: harumph.

Here we go again. From scratch.

I never put too much stock in weather forecasts. Sometimes they're right. Sometimes they're wrong. I'd seen the radar and wasn't convinced. So when I woke up Sunday morning to frost on the ground and giant flakes pouring down, I was a little surprised, despite all the warnings.

I had a conversation Friday with the pastor who happened to be preaching Sunday. We lamented how snow often falls Saturday night. He promised he'd be preaching no matter how hard the snow was falling. So after looking out my window, I continued putting on my makeup and getting ready. I did switch my plans from heels to boots. Other than that, things were pretty much going along as normal.

Against objections, I convinced E we should take one car to church. So we both hopped in the Camry and started along the ten minute drive to my work. This is what our drive looked like:

That photo has not been doctored, my friends. This was us at an intersection. And I have no idea which intersection because, well, look at it!

So as E cautiously drove (like a rock star I might add--he wasn't shaken at all by the lack of visibility or the iciness or the roads) I fielded texts, emails, and calls from volunteers.  All of whom (except one--shout out to Heather) were saying, "I can't make it!!" And who could blame em. Please reference above photo.

Then the texts from coworkers started. I was running late but the coworker who'd already gotten there said she was still shaking from the experience.  Um, yeah.  But we arrived a little late and in one piece. At 7:30, my usually bustling church had about 10 people in it. Here's the outside snow:

I hopped into the wing to see if anyone was there and found a few lone, brave souls.  By the time I had done a quick once-over, I got an email saying we would have the 8:00 service but the next two would be canceled. So I rallied some computers for our volunteers to watch our one and only service and we gathered around for a church "snow day" of sorts.

Shout out to my brother's girlfriend. It was her first Sunday to volunteer as a sub in our ministry and at 7:50 she arrived and announced, "So sorry I'm late!" I was shocked to see her in the midst of all the snow and when I told her this, she commented, "Of course I'm here. I'm from Nebraska." Point taken. Come to think of it, another of our volunteers who showed was from Nebraska as well. Anyway, that's dedication. First Sunday to serve, full of snow, show up anyway.  Let me also state she took her front wheel drive car home in the snow, against my protest. Texted me quickly to say she was home. Rock. Star.

Here's where God's providence becomes amazing. We ended up having about 100 people in church yesterday and I had about 10 volunteers show up, out of the 25 scheduled for first service. Talk about awesome.  In fact,  I sent some to church because we didn't need them all.  We opened 3 classrooms and had a snow day.  I got to stick around and feed a baby a bottle so you know it was a good day in my book.

Seriously, though. It was just a wonderful day to build community.  

Once we'd cleared out the wing and turned down a rather kind offer to take a suburban home, E and I trekked back in the Camry. Here's us stopping at Hy Vee to get pizza and Redbox movies. (Side note: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Big Fan).

Yeah. Eric is just wearing a light jacket. What you can't see is I am wearing his heavy down coat because he said he didn't need it. It came to my knees.

After our grocery stop, we headed back home through the snowstorm. Here are some photos along the way:

I'll say it again: my man did a great job navigating that snow in our little Camry.  But we live in the county. Not the city. And we live on a hill.

So when we turned onto our actual street. We got, how do you say, stuck going up the final hill. So my dashing husband got out, I put the car in low, and he pushed us up the hill and into the driveway. Where I promptly got us stuck sideways in the drive. Exhibit A:

But no one is complaining about that. Because we got home!  I will state as I made dinner that night, E shoveled the driveway and put the car in the garage. Married life. It's the best.

As we made the pizza, I hopped online and watched the service. I am blessed to work at a high tech church where they stream the service and then put the full service in archive to watch at will. See:

It was for sure a fun adventure of a day. But since we've had three snow storms this winter (more than we've had total in our other 5 years in our town) I'd like to think this is the end of the road for the snow. For a while at least. I'm looking forward to killing things in my garden and getting outside with my dogs.

Either way, I'm thankful for our fun blizzard adventure yesterday. And in case you're wondering, official reports say we ended up with nine inches of snow.