No boots needed today, Mom

My girls were born in northern Minnesota. The scenery was beautiful, the mosquitoes were big, and the trees were plentiful. And it won't surprise anyone when I say, it was cold with LOTS of snow throughout the long winter months.

Our move to Kansas came via the scenic route - through a short stay in western Colorado and then onto Nebraska. When we finally settled in Kansas, we lived in a small town, just two short blocks from the school. I loved being so close to everything. It gave me a sense of security and peace.

We moved to Kansas after the school year had already started and the weather was turning colder. My oldest was in 3rd grade...I think. One morning we all went through our morning routine and I sent her off to school as usual. She walked the two blocks to school every morning. If I wanted, I could see the edge of the school playground from our backyard.

She hadn't been gone long when I heard someone open the back door. The next thing I heard was my daughter say, "Mom, there's no one at school!"

"What do you mean? 'There's no one there' Someone has to be there."

"No, Mom. There's nobody. There's not even a teacher at that door I always go in."

After some investigating, we discovered that school was starting two hours late that day due to weather. I had noticed a light skiff of snow on the ground that morning, but never gave it any thought. The radio, which I didn't turn on until after she returned home, reported there was a layer of ice on the roads under the snow, thus making it more dangerous for the buses to be out.

When I tried explaining to my daughter why no one was at school and school was going to be starting late, she was not impressed. The words "stupid" and "dumb" were used more than once. I'm pretty sure I remember the quote, "Mom, it didn't even snow! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

I did my best to convince her that the school made the right decision, but I must admit, I might have been fibbing a touch. We had just come from a place that measured snow by the foot and "snow days" were because the temperature was too dangerously low for the kids to walk out to the bus. I wasn't quite convinced that skiff of snow was comparable to 50 below temperatures.

It's hard to adjust to something new. Even if that something new might be better, safer... warmer.

We were used to the winter environment, equipped for the harsh weather. So familiar with it that it was NORMAL to us. So normal, that we didn't recognize someone else's normal once we left our environment. Not only did we not recognize it, but we didn't bother trying to get familiar with it until it affected our lives directly.

Sound familiar?

As Christians we fail at this... I fail at this, all the time. To stop and think how others are affected. Are they existing in my life or am I existing in theirs? Is there a difference? Am I reaching outside my circle for the right reasons? Why do I have a "circle?" Why? Why do we have a circle?

It would be really easy to stay within the familiar, to never stray past the security of our church family. But that's not what God wants us to do. We are to shine His love on ALL the world. To be an example of His love and forgiveness. How is anyone outside our circle going to see God's love if we're not LIVING outside the circle?

The biggest impact we can make in our community, our country, our world, is to live our lives as an example of how God has called us to live. To have others see us love unconditionally; to have others observe total forgiveness; to have others know the gift of sharing. How we live our lives should be a daily witness to our calling as believers. It's not easy... it's a struggle some days.

At least it is for me.

1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.