I have discovered that with being back to work during the day the taking-care-of-business errands I used to do all in one afternoon while I was out of work now need to be done after I'm finished working and before I come home.
That means when I do go places after working, I get home in the evenings with just a few hours to make and eat dinner, get some things done around the house, choose my clothes and make my lunch for the next day, and then relax enough to go to bed.
I know that just about everyone reading this is shouting "welcome to my world" at their computer screen right now. I am not complaining or thinking this is a big deal. It's just a change I've had to adjust to. I'd forgotten how much working a 40 hour work week takes from your life.
For several years now I have been purchasing digital audio books from the Amazon owned website, Audible.com. I have purchased books by former president George W. Bush; TV and movie director, Garry Marshall; TV icon, Carol Burnette, and a few of the Disney based, Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson.
Recently, more than a year since my last purchase (A book by Dolly Parton) I went back to the website. I had forgotten that I had signed up for a special program that allows me to buy a book each month at a special price.
When I signed in to my account to look for a book I wanted to download, I discovered that I had 10 credits that had accumulated on my account since my last purchase. My credit card has been charged each month over the last year.
To make a long story short I have used all 10 credits for titles I have wanted and now I can listen to them. This is fortunate because I now have quite a bit of time to myself while driving from place to place for my job.
In the last couple of weeks I've listened to books by TV favorites, Tim Conway and Gavin McCloud. Today I started listening to Andy Williams reading his auto biography.
I enjoy reading books but there's something rather a little more compelling about listening to the author tell their story themselves.
If you enjoy books and spend a lot of time in your car or some place where you can listen I highly recommend trying audio books. You can get them through Audible.com or just borrow them on CD from your local library.
The light snowfall and cold temperatures earlier this week, here in Kentucky, was nothing compared to what the upstate New York area went through. I mean 72 inches of snow in 24 hours?
The pictures from that area are amazing and the effort that communities have put together to simply survive is something to be admired.
But this type of weather event always makes me think about the way God designed how it snows. I mean how one by one an uncountable number of delicately shaped six-sided crystals slowly come floating down from the sky to light on the ground and blanket everywhere it falls. When all those flakes finish their descent you get the final amount of accumulation.
Could you imagine what it would be like if all the snow in a storm system just fell to earth all at once? Clouds roll into an area and an amount of snow equivalent to 3 inches falls with the force of gravity all at once. What would that do to the land, trees, property, people?
Tragically, this happens on a relatively small scale already. Just look on the internet for video of an avalanche. Imagine what that would be like on a much larger scale coming straight down instead of down a mountainside.
It may sound strange to think about since the "great falling wall of snow" is not the way it happens. But considering the possibility helps you appreciate the way it does.
It shows God's provision, mercy, and blessing all at the same time. Snow provides water for the planet and people in way that's a more gradual type of saturation than rain.
It is the runoff from winter precipitation that, for the most part, provides the water needed for the renewal of the land every spring.
He shows mercy by appropriating snow to come to us the slow, meticulous, and intimate way it does.
As far as the blessing part of it is concerned look at the role snow plays in our lives. For the most part it's connected with positive experiences. Look at all the beauty, adventure and romance connected with snow. Even items about its connection with Christmas alone could fill a museum. Consider all the art and literature that has been inspired by snow throughout history.
And is there any occasion more joyous in a kid's life than when they find out they have the day off from school because it snowed? I submit there is not.
So there's my observation about snow. I appreciate it for what it is; yet another example of how continuously good and gracious, all mighty God really is. Something to be thankful for especially at this time of the year.
Okay, I've gone on long enough about inconsequential things. I've managed to write enough to qualify this as a typical RH Factors post. Thanks for indulging me.
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