Snowed-In and Suffering

The title of this post would make it seem like we're, well, snowed-in and suffering. Actually, the two words don't have anything to do with each other, just the two big topics of the day. We're actually having a nice time at home, due to my adjusted attitude, my acceptance of my addiction to coffee, and some fun activities (that I will talk about later).

The suffering part has to do with not being able to watch any news coverage of the situation in Haiti. I talk to my mom on the phone and she gives me tidbits of the news that she has heard from there, being sure to include the "good" stories. My imagination can fill in the blanks about the "bad" stuff (and even then I'm sure it is just 10% of what the bad stuff actually is like). Just THINKING about it yesterday caused me to Google "adopting a baby from Haiti". Maybe this is TMI, but my friends and I have talked about whether we would nurse someone else's baby, and in this situation, I would happily do so for a Haitian baby.

I was comforted once by hearing John Piper say that he has to have theological arguments in his head when he thinks about suffering in order to remind himself that God is good. I have to do that, too...and then not forget to still take action as Jesus would. I guess I have been thinking that, though the devastation in Haiti is unparalled, death and suffering are happening every day. Friends watch their babies die in their arms, people are injured in accidents or lose their possessions. If I were to be angry at God or doubt his goodness, I would have to do it every day. But, every day, poor people suffer and die and others do nothing about it. When something like this happens, people (and especially God-believing people) take action in unparalleled ways. So even though I can't imagine what people are going through in Haiti right now, I know that God is being glorified and people are loving their neighbor as themselves and taking stock of what is really important. And even though it sounds cliche, these events help us to see what a gift God's blessings are, instead of just expecting everything to be wonderful all the time and being mad when we don't get what we want. Jeremy is reading a book to the youth group about a Bulgarian pastor who was tortured for his faith and he read a part about the pastor finding a single blade of grass in the prison yard and rejoicing over it. I think if we could really see all the suffering the way God can see it, we wouldn't be able to breathe, and if we could really see all of God's blessings, we wouldn't be able to function and would just stand there saying "Oh my!" all day long.

So now it seems strange to talk about our snowed-in day fun, but that's the dilemma I feel...how I can go about my daily business when there are people with no water, food, etc. But that's how it is right now, and I must go on (with hopefully a changed perspective and commitment to pray and take action if needed). The forecast (and John Coe) predicts epic snowfall blah blah blah, so I have decided to hunker down at home for the week (except for plans to tromp through the snow to a neighbor's house for a movie date). I have decided to document our days as this storm progresses. So here is the review of day 1:

--Woke up to...no snow yesterday, but it picked up later and compelled me to make
--Oatmeal cake (does not go with my diet but smelled good, warmed up the house, and hit the spot--I highly recommend making one...I won't post the recipe I used due to a recent FAIL in my ability to copy a recipe correctly) (Here is a picture of what was left of Oatmeal Cake after late-night devouring)

--a craft: Butter (or Cream Cheese) Box Puppets Directions: take an empty butter box (or cream cheese for smaller hands) and tape it closed. Wrap with paper then find the middle, cut through 3 sides, leaving one wide side intact. Decorate like a puppet (you could make it really cute with green paper and alligator teeth or a tongue, glue on googly eyes, etc. but I used self-restraint and let the boys just do whatever they wanted) then use as a puppet...

...or use it to motivate boys to pick up their toys (a nice result that I hadn't expected)


--watching movies, snuggled up under...a collapsed Transformers tent?

Here was the view this morning (day 2 of EPIC! STORM!):

We'll see what sort of crafts and cooking we come up with for today, and I plan to take time to talk to God more about His purposes in suffering and what He expects from me...