Texas Snowman

January 8, 2010

Today is the coldest day we have had in literally – forever! It is 23 degrees outside and was lower during the night. I have not checked into how low it got… but it got low low for Weimar Texas!
It was tricky getting the girls ready for school today – it is all toasty in the house and it is so hard to convince them that it is burr winter outside. After it was said and done… they both had two coats on and were ready to take on the day.
As I was driving home I tried to remember the coldest childhood memory I had endured. It was difficult to remember cold; however I did run across a memory of snow as a small child. I was probably 6 years old and it snowed in Weimar. Not only did it snow but the snow actually stuck to the ground and covered our yard in a thin blanket of white snow. Well, maybe the blanket was really thin and it was more of a grey than a white.
I was still very excited to see snow even if it was so minute that it was hardly recognizable as ‘real’ snow. I didn’t even realize then that it was not considered ‘real’ snow. It was falling from the sky and was white while it fell… so to me it was my first snow and it was amazing.
I have a pretty clear memory of my sister and I building this snowman in the snow. I am sure the memory is so clear because we took a photo and through the years I have this memory that is attached to this photo. Real or conjured… the memory of this snowman was amazing! My sister and I gathered as much snow as possible to build this sad little representation of a snowman. By the time we finished rolling the snowballs around on the ground, as we had seen in all of the Hollywood movies, this ball was filled with dried grass and dirt from the ground. Our snowman was very much a dirty ole’ soul. We gave him eyes, arms, nose and a scarf. I remember feeling so proud and like life was complete now that I had experienced snow and was first handedly had knowledge in building a real snowman.
This morning as my eyes started to sparkle with the childlike joy of that day I began to think --- Why do I have such great memories of that day? It was awful, really. There was not much snow; it was not fluffy and white at all. The snow was dirty and the snowman was tiny and ragged looking.
The truth is that so much of life is like that dirty snowy day I experienced at a young age. We have fairytale dreams of experiences and life lessons that are just not reality much of the time. We watch movies and we begin to think that our life is incomplete if we don’t acquire this or accomplish that. That is just not true.
Life is what we make of it with the resources we have in our hands. It’s cheesy but the old saying… ‘If life gives you lemons… make lemonade’ is so true. In my case… ‘if you live in Texas and it snows… praise God you get to build a kid size rustic snow cowboy.’ – It truly is how you look at it.
When I was little and I began to story the memory for that day –I was ecstatic and super proud … why, because I was a kid in Texas that saw snow in her own yard --- not only in my own yard but then enough to build a snowman. I easily could have been angry that it snowed and was too cold to play outside then I could have gotten angry or disappointed that the snowman was not very big… I could have even been so upset that I just didn’t build one at all. What kinda memory is that… YUK! It’s so toxic…so many people walk around with these toxic thoughts that kill the great memory opportunities.
We have to take responsibilities for our own thought process. We either choose thoughts that push us into storing great memories regardless of the circumstances or we choose thoughts that breed toxic fumes and turn our memories into a black stinky mess of gunk.
I want my girls to know this… that we are in control of what we allow in our hearts and minds. If we take the time to store up The Word of God in our mind and hearts it is living and active… it will grow and shape us. It will form memories that are centered in Christ. Something I am not that great at is storing up the Word of God.
Learn from my mistake… Memories it and love it… eat it and devour it… knowing God word will save you from so much heart ache. I am reminded of a scripture in Hebrews that talks about the word of God being like a sword judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. It is so true – if we will fill ourselves with Gods word then when a memory is being formed the word of God will judge it and bring it into its right place keeping it pure and full of life. You will be a spiritually and emotionally healthier person if you allow God word to live in your thoughts and heart.
I love my memory of that snowman… its because it was real and true to me – I saw the positive in the snow …I never saw the dirt or the smallness of the little man till I was much older looking back in pictures… for me – it’s the greatest snowman I had ever built. Its all in the attitude of the heart when a memory is stored.



Hebrews 4:12 (New International Version)
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.