“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5: 16

The Indomitable Snowmen

No, this isn’t a Christmas story, but it was November, 2019, when I brought out some of my favorite Christmas decorations. Amongst them were my dear little battery operated snowmen with the built-in five-hour timers. We inserted fresh batteries back then, and off they went to brighten our home with a lovely glow for—wait for it—seven months! And they’re still going strong today, in May, 2020! Utterly impossible I’d think—except for the Lord.

When I look back on the day we set the snowmen up, it was certainly a more normal time; Thanksgiving was right around the corner, and we were all getting ready for Christmas. We were blissfully unaware of any kind of “Covid,” let alone a “Covid-19,” and life was somewhat predictable. I say somewhat, because in my family, we had to cancel our Thanksgiving get-together because my sister got some bug. Then when she was better, my husband and I got sick, so we ended up canceling our Christmas gathering, too. Very weird, I thought.

And then the virus hit our area, and much of regular life came to a screeching halt. Life for many became a series of floundering moves, not knowing what to expect, how to act, to wear a mask or not to wear a mask. Were our packages safe to handle? Most felt this odd sensation of waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then, will we/I survive it?

Somehow, in the midst of my own unsettledness, an odd comfort filled my heart whenever I’d look over at my flickering snowmen on the mantle. “Peace like a river” began to fill my soul, as I thought about how they just kept going, glowing, and glowing, every night, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Hmm, very odd, I thought. Could God extend the life of those snowmen just to give me encouragement and comfort? Well, He certainly could.

Those snowmen have been “indomitable” (not abominable—that’s a different story!) which the New Oxford Dictionary defines as: “impossible to subdue or defeat, as a woman of indomitable spirit.” I admit, I’d felt defeated all right, so much so that I wondered if I’d ever get my “glow” back. But God wanted to encourage me, and He can use absolutely anything to do it, even glow-y, little snowmen.

Remember the Sunday School song we sang as kids, “This Little Light of Mine”?*

“I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!”

“Shine all over Shasta C-o-u-n-t-y, I’m gonna let it shine…”

Seemed so much easier to do when I was eight, but I do still want to be that light, don’t you?

I want to let His Light shine through me. I don’t want to be a bummer, a grey cloud, a glass half empty, or rain on anybody’s parade (which I’ve been known to do on occasion—just ask my husband), no matter what the circumstances of life are at the time. And in His strength, this is most certainly possible.

Dear Jesus, You lovingly remind us that we “are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamptand, and it gives light to all who are in the house” (Matthew 5: 14-15). Thank You, Lord.  Glow on, church, glow on!

*Lomax, John A, Ruby T Lomax, and Doris McMurray. This Little Light o’ Mine. 1939. Audio.