"So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped until the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky
and delayed going down about a full day. There was no day like that before it or after it,
when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel."
Joshua 10:13-14
In our ABF class at church, we just finished up a study in Joshua. One of the weeks, we studied Joshua's faith when he called out to the Lord to have the sun stand still. Joshua knew God had promised Israel the victory, but he also knew that time was running out. He called on God to make the sun stand still, and never before or ever since has God done that. Until now...hypothetically speaking, anyway.
Last weekend, the Dallas/Ft Worth area of Texas was hit with a freak ice storm. We didn't have a lot of snow, but we did have some severe ice. Everywhere you looked, young and old trees were bending to the power and weight of the ice. Trees fell across the metroplex causing massive power outages.
For some people, electricity was out for days. School was closed not only on a Friday but also on a Monday. In nearly 15 years of living in Texas, it was the longest stretch of bad weather that I can remember.
Nearly all events were cancelled for the weekend. Our annual Ladies Christmas Brunch was re-scheduled for the next week. My daughter's debate tournament was cancelled. Yes, even church was completely cancelled on Sunday, due to the parking lot being a sheet of ice. My completely overloaded calendar soon became quite empty.
Like you, we live a pretty busy life. We schedule meetings; we volunteer at different events; we volunteer to host parties, and of course, then we have our normal commitments like church, school, kids functions, etc. We coordinate our calendars probably better than we do our clothes, and we fill the calendars with more commitments than we ever should. I love this busy lifestyle, but sometimes, all the commitments leave me as the clown who can't juggle. I feel like I start dropping the ball, important balls like keeping the house clean and taking care of my family. And pretty soon, I start dropping more, because I've added one too many things into said calendar.
When the ice storm hit and things started getting cancelled, I must be honest in saying that I wasn't thrilled. I'm a yankee, you know. Ice doesn't scare me. I took driving classes in the blizzards of Northeast Ohio. But most people in Texas raid the stores for milk, bread, and fruit with the threat of a winter storm, and truthfully, everything needed to be cancelled for their benefit. No, the winter storms don't scare me, but those other native Texas drivers should be feared.
So I'm sure you're thinking, "Ok, so you had an ice storm. Big deal. We've all been through it. What's your point and how does this equate to God making the sun stand still?" Well, let me tell you.
For me, this ice storm was one of the biggest blessings that could have happened. It was as if God allowed the sun to stand still for me. No, I didn't call out to Him in faith like Joshua asking for the sun to stand still. In fact, a better description would be that I whispered in desperation for God to help me somehow get everything done. And in His providential way, that's exactly what God did for me with the ice storm.
I was able to do some much needed cleaning. I was able to pick up all those balls that this clown had been dropping for weeks on end. We were without power for almost 12 hours, but after it came back came on, we were able to get all the laundry in the entire house done. Let me tell you, never before and probably never again will that happen. I relaxed. I hung out with my best friend (the hubz!) and then finally, we found the energy to put up the Christmas tree. It was the first time in the history of the Banfill House that the entire family put the tree up together. (Now I remember why we never did it together before, but that's another story.) The daunting task of putting up the tree had been looming over me, and each time I planned to get it up, something more urgent replaced it. Truthfully, if we weren't hosting the Debate Team Christmas party in a few weeks, I had contemplated not even having a tree this year. But now, it's up; it's simple, and it's beautiful.
I kind of hate to see the ice melt and things to get back to "normal", well, Banfill-normal at least. The crystalized ice berries on my crepe myrtle trees were breathtaking.
Did the sun really stand still in Texas in the middle of an ice storm? I don't know about everyone else who experienced it, but for me, the answer is a very definite "Yes!" Thank you, Lord, for Your providence to slow me down when I don't have the wisdom to do it myself!
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com
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