Auf Wiedersehen 2012!

The following is one of my typical, rambling stories. I'm recording it here to remind me of my blessings later.

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On New Year's Eve it snowed. A lot. There was a lot of talk at the office of skipping parties but I was determined we were gonna go to one. We were so excited to be invited to a party! I never get invited to parties, for reals (usually I have to throw the party). I proclaimed that being from Utah, my dad had taught me all about driving in the snow and my car had good tires, so I was ready.

Soon after the snow started, as seen out the break-room window at work.

The snow kept coming down all day but that evening we got all spruced up and headed out. Our complex had been plowed and salted, so it wasn't too bad, however, once we got onto the main road it was a different story. Kansas City is all hills, up and down, and I happen to live at the top of a hill. The road goes down on either side of our complex. This means you can't see the road very far in front of you. As we crested the hill, we immediately saw cars lined up on the side of the road, and not just a few. I soon realized that these cars were either attempting to go up the hill and failing or had not been able to stop going down the hill because the roads were not plowed. Some cars were actually stuck in snow banks on the side of the road. Lovely.

We proceeded ahead with caution and successfully avoided a car who had been trying to drive up a side street but had instead rolled down back into the middle of the road, in my path. In the meantime, my car was fine. No slips or slides or anything. I was feeling pretty okay about it but got an impression that I needed to turn around and go home. I rationed that I was NOT going to miss the party and I was a good driver and I hadn't had any problems so far. Again, the thought persisted. "Yes, you could easily get to the party, but you may not be able to get home, after midnight, on this road, with these people." Hmm, I'm not stupid and this thought pattern made sense. I deflated, my new year's plans crushed, I decided to turn back home.

Once the decision had been made I started to worry about actually getting home, remembering the people on the side of the road who couldn't get up the hill. I was rather concerned that we would have to be towed up or something. In changing our course, instead of actually turning around, I drove in a big square so I came was coming up the road to my house from the opposite direction. As I was sitting at the red light getting ready to give it my all in getting up the road, a plow truck turned onto the road, right in front of me. He plowed the path right to my complex! I felt this lovely, sweet feeling of confirmation that I had done what I was supposed to do and that the Lord had provided a way to help us get home because we listened to him.

I know this might seem like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but at the time I really felt immensely blessed and I knew the Lord was watching out for us.

We arrived back home to a house devoid of much food (we had just gotten home the day before and hadn't had time to hit the store yet) but I made do and decided to try my hand at fried ravioli (using some I had in the freezer). We also chomped on the white chocolate popcorn I had made for the party. It was a dang good batch. I felt bad for everyone at the party who couldn't taste it. We rang in the new year very quietly, just the two of us playing the new board game we got for Christmas (Spontuneous, which is seriously so much fun!!). Being snowed in isn't so bad when your best friend is with you. :)

So much happened in 2012, I'm excited to see what 2013 brings us! :)