st. patrick's day

trying to move st. patrick beyond shamrocks, leprechauns and green beer, here's a snippet from st. patrick's breastplate that i find meaningful:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

snow+wind+basketball=more new adventures

you wouldn't expect that in the middle of march we'd get stuck in a blizzard. well, our year of firsts continued when a quick shopping trip 60 miles away turned into a mini-vacation when the wind kicked up to a steady 50+ mph and the snow started to fall... and before we could get out of there, they closed the interstate back home. we were stuck. we tried alternate routes, but with the weather the way it was, visibility next to zero, and the condition of rural county roads being bad, we turned back to where we started and looked for a hotel to stay the night. unfortunately, the state basketball tournament was going on at the same time and every hotel room in the city was booked. the hotels directed us to the salvation army shelter for stranded motorist.
but thanks be to God, some friends called us, and we told them of our predicament. they made a few calls and arranged for us to stay with some friends of theirs in the city. gratefully, we accepted and went to their place. they were very gracious to us. they had kids around the same age as ours and so the kids had a blast. we were able to spend a comfortable night with some new friends while the wind and snow blew crazy outside.
i was relieved to find out that this kind of stuff happens often. the weather is so unpredictable at times that people get stranded. i'm so thankful that we weren't spending the night in some ditch out in the country. God was truly watching out for us.