Thoughts on Snow Days

Sunday night, the sky opened up in Georgia and covered everything with beautiful white snow. Parker was so excited about the snow the he was literally checking the weather channel every hour, hoping that maybe watching it would somehow help it get here faster. It was sort of like watching a child stare at the fireplace on Christmas Eve. He was probably the only guy in Georgia grilling out Sunday night as the snow came down but he loved it. It was merely an excuse to be outside playing in the snow, not that he really needed an excuse. He was out playing with the dogs well past midnight. Monday we woke up to about 6 inches of snow covering everything! I'm definitely not one to enjoy "playing" in the snow but Parker and Collette had enough fun for all of us. I spent the day cooking and lounging around in my PJs, enjoying the view of the snow without having to deal with the cold. On Monday, everyone's Facebook status was all about the snow and how great it was. I don't remember seeing this much snow in Georgia since 1993 when the city shut down for a week and half for about a foot. I was eleven and it is one of the greatest memories I have! Everyday, we played in the snow from sun up to sun down, drinking hot chocolate about every hour. This Monday was like deja vu, hearing everyone get so excited to play in the snow like kids. My friends in their 20s, 30s and even 40s were out sledding and building snowmen, some acting like they were just doing it "for the kids" but others, like Parker, not being ashamed to let their inner child run free. By Tuesday, the tune everyone was singing had changed. All of a sudden, cabin fever was starting to set in and people's Facebook statuses went from, "So excited to be snowed in!" to "If I don't get out of this house soon, I'm going to lose my mind!" Really?? After 24 hours, just about everyone I knew was restless and on the brink of insanity. It made me think about how busy our lives are that we can't just stop and rest for a few days. By today, people were literally risking their lives out on the roads just to get out of the house. I do understand that this is precisely why we live in the south, where a dusting of snow every few years sufficiently satisfies our craving for it. I also understand that the novelty of it wears off very quickly when we realize as a state that 10 snow plows are not enough to service 5 million people. But I have really loved being at home.

I've spent the time doing what it so inherent to my nature, just being a housewife. I have cooked for every meal for the past 4 days and I've loved it. I've enjoyed spending time with my sister and my hubby. I cleaned the house, did the laundry and could probably be snowed in at least through the weekend without so much as getting a little bored. It made me think about a book my friend Kelly told me about. She read A Woman After God's Own Heart, a book that I have not read but have heard a lot about. Her take on it was that the author claimed that as women, we were ALL created to be homemakers. There is something written in our DNA, some kind of inborn desire for all of us to be like June Cleaver. Kelly called me one day, somewhat distraught about it, because she didn't feel like God had made her that way and she wondered if she was the only one. Her choice of solace was interesting because in her mind, that's exactly the kind of woman God made me to be. I love cooking, cleaning, taking care of my home and my husband, and can't wait until I get to add "mom" to my homemaker resume. I kind of am a modern day June Cleaver. I certainly don't say that to boast because I'm not sure its something to boast about. I busted my butt in college, earned a degree and graduated with honors, did the corporate thing for a few years and have happily settled into my new lifestyle as part-time homemaker. My job at the church, which I absolutely love, is sort of a glorified "church secretary," to further conform to the homemaker stereotype. But I love my job and I love my life.

So Kelly asked me if I thought that all women were created to be like that. I thought about it and my mind went directly to Proverbs 31, the ideal wife and mother. She did it all. Cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids and her home and her husband, all while working long days and still managing to look poised and beautiful. She was and is the epitome of a woman after God's own heart. But I know many wonderful women who don't enjoy doing ALL of these things. I am about as domestic as my generation gets but I hate to knit and sew. I have friends that are excellent wives and mothers but hate to cook. We all love a clean house but who wouldn't pay a housekeeper to do it if the option were there? I know great mothers who hate working outside the home and others who find purpose in their jobs. I wondered, does the Proverbs 31 woman, the woman who does it all, love it all? Verse 17 says, "She sets about her work vigorously" (NIV). In The Message version, it says, "She senses the worth in her work." That is definitely something I can wrap my head around. Some days, the prospect of more laundry and dusting and cleaning while trying to prepare dinner and not look like a hot mess when my husband walks through the door is daunting, to say the least. But I can definitely sense the worth in it. Because at the end of the day, I love the look and smell of a clean house, the thought that everything has a place and that's where it all is, and I can enjoy a nice, home-cooked meal with my husband who loves me and appreciates it all. But not every woman gets the same satisfaction from that and I can honestly say that I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Can a woman still honor and glorify God with her life if she drops her kids off at daycare, works a full day at the office, gets home in time to pay the housecleaner, order a pizza and spend the evening with her family? That's between her and God but I say sure, why not? We're not all created to be Mrs. Cleaver. But we are created with a desire to honor and glorify God with our talents and abilities. Someone writing a book telling women that there's only one way to do is probably a little off base. Again, I haven't read the book so I'm not trying to write a review or anything. I think that all married women can look to the Proverbs 31 wife and find traits they could boast about, traits they could strive towards, and traits that are best left to other woman that desire them.

Snow days are good for deep thinking. And resting. Unfortunately, those are two things that we as a culture don't make enough time for. I'm not a big fan of ice, snow or really anything cold and wet. However, I am a fan of being snowed in, one of the few times in life that I can rest, think, cook, clean, watch movies, have girl talk with my sister, cuddle on the couch with my husband and not feel guilty or bored with any of it.