Blanket

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On Sunday night a blanket of ice encased us in a slippery, beautiful winter fairyland.  It gave us the excuse to wrap ourselves in our warm blankets, watch a movie, and delay the errands that we had planned on accomplishing. 

Monday the blanket of ice was accompanied by a few flakes of snow, creating the perfect playground for southerners to dawn their winter gear, grab their sleds, aand take the perfect shot to post on social media.  Tuesday brought an expected day off for both myself and Luke, giving us the time to pack Emma's bedroom and prepare her stuff to be moved into her new apartment in the coming weeks.  Late yesterday afternoon large beautiful flakes of snow began to blanket our community.  It was the kind of snow that is memorizing to watch, one that covers you in peace and stillness if only for a moment. 

In the midst of the beautiful blanket of snow that has fallen, in the peace and stillness has fallen upon us, among the adventures filled with sledding down the perfect hill, laughing with our friends and families until our entire body aches, and rushing inside to a warm cup of hot chocolate there has been had another kind of blanket has enveloped a large portion of our country.  

It is not a blanket of joy or peace. 
It is not a blanket of adventure.  
It is not a blanket of winter wonderland.
It is not a  blanket of warmth and security.

It is a blanket of despair.
It is a blanket of living with no power for a week in below-freezing temperatures.
It is a blanket of having no running water for a week.
It is a blanket of not being able to run to the pharmacy to get the very medicine that keeps you alive.  
It is a blanket of wondering if you will survive the day with kids who are boarded out of their minds because there is no power.
It is a blanket of wondering how to feed the family as the food in the pantry dwindles.

This morning as I on my front porch looking out over the blanket of beautiful snow, feeling the peace of the morning and the stillness that covered us overnight I was reminded that not all blankets are the same.  Today as you enjoy the snow, work from home with your warm coffee in hand, your hot shower that has been taken, ask yourself how you might provide a blanket of hope and warmth to someone else.  






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