Frost

I remember being a kid and going every Wednesday night during the school year to catechism. One night during the winter the weather got so bad that they let us out early. I set out to walk to our friend's house where my mom would wait until it was time to pick me up. I thought I knew the way.

I remember at first how confident I was that I could get there on my own and show my mom I was a big boy. As I walked, the snow got heavier and the wind picked up. The wind chill fell to the single digits. "That's alright," I thought, "I am prepared for the storm. I have my parka and moon boots on. Besides, I figure I'll be there soon. Those first two blocks where I mistakenly thought their house was were just a fluke...I know where the house is."

It was soon snowing sideways and I had missed the corner three more times, so I decided to double back to the church to wait it out. Then it hit me: What if she had already been there and left thinking someone else had dropped me off at home? Panic set in and then sheer terror as I looked down at my feet. You see, the problem with blowing snow is that the storm erases all the traces of your steps; nothing looked familiar anymore. The other problem with the wind is that when in blows hard enough, it cancels your cries for help. I was lost. I couldn't go forward. Backward was a blur. By now, the houses had gone dark due to a power outage, and my sobs were carried away before they even got past my blue, chattering lips.

I remember growing so sleepy from walking and crying that I actually lay down in the middle of the darkened street to go to sleep. I was tired. I was ready to quit walking and just rest. I remember having one thought: Home. "If I can just lay here awhile, then I can get up and I'll make it home."

I never did fall asleep that night, thank God. A single flame from an old oil lamp lit by an elderly woman blazed from the frosty front window of her house. I hadn't seen the house before because of the dark and the storm. My thoughts changed from the desire to rest to a desperate run on the frozen streets. I had to reach that light before it went out. The light became my purpose. I made it and within twenty minutes, I was safe and warm in my own bed at home.

See, we as followers of the Jesus message need to be about lighting lamps. If there's an unexpected blinding storm in your life and you realize you're lost and there are no traces of your steps, if you can't cry loud enough to be heard, if you are frozen and are thinking, "If I just lay here awhile..." then look up just one more time. There's a warm house waiting for you with a light burning bright to guide you home.