When the World Flips

When has your World Flipped?

There we were driving in a gorgeous day in Western Virginia along Interstate 81. I had checked the 511 traffic information and all was clear.  So was the weather forecast--"cloudy and overcast" ahead. Cruise control set, no trucks bearing down, and Hayden's 104th was playing.

 

 
The weather forecast was correct--for a while that is.  It did cloud up...just before the bottom dropped out into a snow squall. In fact, we slowed down into a "white out."  Had this storm gotten lost, was its GPS off, what was it doing deluging us?  We slowed down dramatically and pulled behind a car and trailer which was breaking up the snow on the interstate.  Of course, trucks whizzed by us knowing some secret to staying on the highway without skidding into the rest of us. 

The world changed instantly and dramatically.  Once we got into our safety-zone for driving, we could see red barns with black cattle standing out in relief.  The trees transformed from winter brown white shilouettes on the hill sides.  And of course we traveled at half the speed.  There was truly a sense of awe and wonder at the way the world changed...and we were compelled to slow down and see it--then enjoy it.

Do You Flip Out When the World Flips? 

We humans like a predictable world.  A weather forecast is not the only thing we 

rely on--think of the ups and downs of the DowJones, of health when the flu hits

early, of the sudden red-slip departure from business....  Do any of us ever stop and drive the new speed limit when our conditions change and take in the new world?  Not likely!  Aren't we more apt to panic and rush to get things back the way they were.  Admittedly, when the snow hit, I first thought of safety, then the time lost, and now the joy of the experience.  What is the old saying?  Life is what happens to you when you are planning for something else?  Maybe the real question is this.  Not how I put my world back together, but rather how will I accept the world as it is handed to me--with the realization that God is just as much in the new world as the old.  Maybe, just maybe--God will stand out in relief for us like those barns, cattle and trees.