By Pastor Jason Paul
The week began with a cruel April Fool joke. Nature decided to dump over a foot of heavy snow on the Metro area. This was not just snow, but one with the nickname of heart attack snow. It’s called heart attack snow because it is so saturated with water that people have been known to have heart attacks when shoveling. As the snow fell overnight, the weight of the snow broke tree branches, downed power lines, and caused a lot of heartache for residents. My residence was affected by a power outage that lasted over 36 hours. Luckily, I could not drive to work and could spend the day at home dealing with the chaos.
The snow created the daunting task of shoveling ourselves out. As I was outside, I fired up the snow blower and attempted to rid my driveways of very wet snow, and so did the other neighbors. We all had one mission, to remove the snow. As everyone worked diligently to clear the snow, I looked at my neighbors and their different snow blowers. I was impressed when I purchased my snow blower, but when I looked out at the neighbors, I was even more impressed by theirs. But I also noticed the friendly camaraderie among them. Neighbors were helping neighbors and slowed down their lives long enough to visit and get to know each other better.
The neighborhood was not the only one that benefited from a snow day without power. But my family did as well. No power meant no screen time, no internet or television shows, and just a day filled with playing in the snow and board games. Our circumstances forced us to spend quality time with each other without distractions.
As we approach Easter as Christ’s followers, we must seek opportunities to invite others to church. Easter Sunday is when people are willing to go to church when asked. The snowstorm allowed me to visit neighbors I had not seen or spoken to in a long time. What began as a daunting task of snow removal turned into an opportunity to invite neighbors to church on Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday is also a time for family members to come together. What was unique about the power outrage was that my family spent quality time together and focused on one another. Easter is a great time to invite family members to church to intentionally spend quality time focused on what Jesus Christ has done for us.
My encouragement is for all believers to be intentional. Be intentional about spending quality time together as a family. Be intentional about focusing on Jesus and his death and resurrection this Easter. Easter is a joyous time when family and neighbors can come together. So let us get together and celebrate.
About the Author,
Pastor Jason Paul is a graduate of Grace Christian University and has been a Christ follower since he was a young man. His desire to strengthen his daily walk with Jesus through Bible study and to help others strengthen their walk in the Lord. His Bible study podcast titled Abiding in the Faith is designed to present practical Biblical teaching to help make Jesus known and strengthen a person’s walk with Jesus Christ.
