Buddy and the Snowman

Yesterday Grace and I went out into the snow to slide, throw snow at one another, and just generally have fun. It didn't take us long to realize that there was actually enough snow on the ground to make a snowman! Those of you who live here in the sunny south know that this a rare occurrence.

After several minutes we had made something that could be passed off as a snowman, but it wouldn't win any awards. The snow was not sticking together very well so it was nearly impossible to build the traditional three section (head, thorax, abdomen) snowman made of giant snowballs. Ours was more like a tower that kind of rose out of the ground and came to a point. In the end it ended up looking much more like a real snowman once we added the hat, scarf, and carrot nose that Sherry provided for our creation.

Once we finished Grace gave me specific instructions not to knock it down, because she wanted to see how long it would last before it melted. That leads us to Buddy our spoiled rotten dog. (I am just as guilty of spoiling him as anyone by the way) This morning I took Buddy outside for his morning business, and he couldn't concentrate on the task at hand because of the snowman. He kept looking at it, hopping around, and I realized that he was scared! Of course I tried to help him overcome this irrational fear by dragging him towards the abominable snowman. He didn't like that at all. I finally had to take him to another part of the yard where he couldn't see it so he could do his duty, if you know what I mean.

There's no reason why a healthy dog of Buddy's size should fear a partially melted, pile of snow with sticks for arms and green M&M's for eyes. (We didn't have any coal available) Of course Buddy is a dog and doesn't have the capacity for rational thought. On the other hand, I am a human being that has that ability, and I can be guilty of the same thing. Not fearing snowmen,(If you have that fear please get treated for it) but fearing the unfamiliar and the unknown. How often do I put off doing something because I'm not sure off the result? How often do I let an opportunity to try something new pass by because I've never done it before? I wonder if God thinks I'm being silly, the way I thought Buddy was?

It reminds me of what David wrote in a song a long time ago:

The LORD is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

That even applies to snowmen.