Wishing for a Snow Day

In high school, I had to do a science fair project. It was an intensive research project that stretched from the fall into the spring. I had to research an idea, come up with an experiment and a thesis statement, perform the experiment, submit a bibliography and review for approval of my teacher, write a long research paper, illustrate my paper and experiment on a tri-fold poster board, and present it to volunteer judges. The research was done in the very early internet age, so much of my research had to be done with books. Admittedly, I was very bad at coming up with ideas. It wasn't until I saw the rest of the boards that I realized the simplicity in some of the ideas that my fellow classmates and how much better their projects were.

What I usually struggled with was finishing the paper. As a teenager, I wasn't the best at my time management. And writing the scientific paper was not my forte. It would take me a very long time to finish. One year in particular, the day before the paper was due and I had barely finished. My heart raced as I considered how long I would have to be up that night and how it would be impossible for me to finish everything I needed to do. My prayers for more time were answered when my school announced an early dismissal in anticipation of a snow storm. I raced home and worked on my paper, enthusiastic for the extra hours I had gained. But, by eight that night it became evident that I needed more time still. God answered my prayers once again and I got the call from one of my friends that we had the next day off too. Thanks in large part to the snow day, I finished my paper.

A few years ago, I was set to take David to the airport on Superbowl Sunday. At that time David was spending three weeks out of the month in California. There was a threat of snow, but it wasn't enough to deter a native Chicagoan from planning to drop David at the airport and then drive to my friend's house to watch the game. The snow came in heavier than usual and remember wishing for David's flight to be canceled so I could have another week with David. After an afternoon full of delays, reschedulings and ultimately,  cancellations we spent the evening together watching football and eating tortellini. I got my extra time.

Earlier this week, Chicago got hit with a snow storm, definitely not unheard of even in mid-March, but enough to make the commute into work more treacherous and grueling. As I sat in my office and watched the snow whirl around outside, sometimes to the point where I couldn't see the building across the street from me or the now green river, I thought about how I want some extra time. Losing an hour on Sunday made the desire for more time stronger. I wished that I could have another miraculous snow day to give me the chance to get enough sleep, to clean my house, organize my closets, write, and read.