LET IT SNOW…

let it snow

We were blessed to have some snow here in Vancouver – not an everyday occurrence.  Last night I was about to head out to the gym when my husband showed me a posting on Facebook from a mom in our hockey community – she had posted pictures of a farmer’s field where she was at that moment with her children skating on an open rink. Open rink – brought me right back to my childhood in Quebec – I had a million things to do like Christmas cards, cook dinner, laundry but I didn’t hesitate – I called the kids, grabbed our gear and took off in the truck to find the farm.  I drove by it three times because even though I could see the lights and the people, I couldn’t figure out where to park.  It turns out the farmer had opened his front gate and invited people to park on his property and enjoy the ice rink he made by flooding his field – it was awesome – he had generators, music and lights.  He was serving hot dogs and hot chocolate for  a donation.  As I was driving out of the farm – I saw a small sign on the front gate – “Welcome to God’s Little Acre Farm.”  “I’ve heard of this farm,” I thought.  When I got home, I looked up the farm on the internet and indeed I had heard of “God’s Little Acre.”  He is a farmer who has dedicated his life to feeding the poor – he dedicates 30 acres of his land to produce food for the local food bank.  His project has grown and he has hundreds of volunteers help him sow the land and harvest the crop. He does all kinds of fundraising to make this project possible – create an ice rink and serve hot dogs and hot chocolate is one of his endeavours.   An interesting story and an example of what you can do if you’re determined…All I know is that for a small donation, we had a great time skating in the fresh air late into the evening.  Thanks Jas…

http://godslittleacrefarm.com/our-story/

A winter Storm – Friday’s Phlog for December 6, 2013

snow collage

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,  stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

Dr. Seuss


	

AN ANGEL IN THE MIDST

I’ve been power walking with my neighbour for a while now.  We get up at 5:30 am and walk for an hour, sometimes I think our mouths get more exercise than our legs!  We both find 5:30 am the best time for us to get in an hour of exercise.  We work full time, the kids have homework or sports after school, dinner, laundry for the next day and getting the kids off to bed takes too much time in our evenings to get a walk in the schedule.  My oldest has been getting up and coming with us as he enjoys walking with my girlfriend’s dog Rex.  My youngest son gets up every now and then but he likes his sleep.  My walking buddy went to Mexico yesterday, so I asked my boys if they wanted to get up and take the dog for an early morning walk.  This is what we woke up to – snow.  Here my walking buddy goes to Mexico and it snows.  I got up a little late this morning and it was just me, my youngest son and Rex.   I grabbed my camera because  I knew the snow wouldn’t last and there’s nothing more breath-taking than a fresh layer of snow.

.                        

It was pretty icy this morning and you had to watch your step.  Half way through the walk, I stepped off the curb onto the road and unknown to me there was black ice.  My feet went out from underneath me and it happened so fast I had no time to get my hands out to break my fall.  The strangest thing happened, my fall seem to go to slow motion and it was as if someone caught me from the fall and laid me gently on the ground.  I landed softly on my butt, then slowly the rest of my body laid back as if I was lying down on a bed and finally the back of my head hit the ground like I would lie down on a pillow, very gently.  I was lying there staring up at the sky a little stunned when Rex’s snout appeared and then my son’s face.  He said “mom are you ok?”  “Yes” I said, “just a little stunned.”   “Why are you stunned mom, are you hurt?”  “No I’m stunned, I’m not hurt, my head should of hit that ground really hard.”  I got up like nothing happened, no pain in my lower back or legs, no pain in my shoulders, no pain in my head, nothing.  Very strange, I’ve had similar experiences before where I’ve counted my lucky stars that someone or something was with me, but nothing quite so drastic as this morning.  I believe in angels and I’m not sure what form they take, but I know angels are amongst us.  Something was with me and my son this morning and I am very grateful.

          

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When I see a fresh layer of snow I always think that it’s God’s way of laying down a protective cover on the earth and the world seems to stand still.  Maybe he sent his angels out this morning as well….