![\"HailtheSun122414\"](\"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/HailtheSun122414-1024x468.jpg\")
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I’m paranoid about driving on slippery roads.<\/strong>\u00a0I’m even a bit paranoid about driving on potentially<\/em> slippery roads. Ask my family. They’ll tell you.<\/p>\n I think I’m forever scarred by the look of terror in the eyes of the driver in the car I almost broadsided when my car — along with a half-dozen others — went out of control on an icy overpass. That was back in my single schoolteacher days.<\/p>\n I know. I should get over it. That was a\u00a0long\u00a0<\/em>time ago, and God has proven over and over again that He<\/em> is in control — when I finally wake up to the fact that I’m<\/em> not.<\/p>\n But it still takes a lot to get me on the roads if there’s any hint of ice or snow in the forecast. (I can hear some of you Midwesterners laughing…) It takes something like a family gathering, or being the only available piano player at church, to get me in the car on that kind of day.<\/p>\n So . . . last Thursday was one of those days. I was up\u00a0early<\/em>, ready to run in to pick up a toy put on hold for me at one of those stores that opens at 6 a.m. during the Christmas rush. I had to go in early, because I was supposed to be meeting my newly married daughter-that-I’ve-hardly-seen-since-she-got-home-from-India at 8:30 to do some Christmas shopping. She lives an hour away.<\/p>\n Finally, with all my coupons and lists gathered, I ran out to the car with my first load, only to find it covered in ice, with the doors frozen shut.<\/p>\n This was not in the plan. It had rained yesterday. Now the thermometer said it was 28 degrees out.<\/p>\n I eventually pried the driver’s door open, started the car, and went back in to check the road conditions online. Icy roads. Use caution on bridges and overpasses. (Don’t worry, I will<\/em>.) Side streets will be slick. Bummer. I already had to cancel this shopping trip once after succumbing to the traditional Christmas flu we pass around at church every year.<\/p>\n I can be brave.<\/p>\n I can do all\u00a0<\/em>things through Christ who strengthens me.<\/p>\n Perfect love casts out fear.<\/p>\n I decided to compromise. I would at least wait until it started to get light out, and we could just start our shopping a little later.<\/p>\n So I had a chance to eat some breakfast, clean up some stuff, and let the car warm up. Then I headed out. Our back road out to the main highway looked<\/em> slick, but I’m too paranoid to even test the road with my brakes. (What if I slide<\/em>?)<\/p>\n On the highway (still in the country), cars were moving slower than usual. Good. I wouldn’t hold up traffic while\u00a0I\u00a0<\/em>drove slower than usual. Most people were leaving themselves more room for stopping. They were taking corners slower and generally being cautious. I could live with that.<\/p>\n The main roads\u00a0looked\u00a0<\/em>pretty dry, especially as I drove further east. I briefly considered detouring to the bakery to get my donut-loving daughter a surprise, but then I saw the slippery whiteness<\/em> of the side street.<\/p>\n Hmm. She likes Krispy Kreme better anyway. . .<\/p>\n And then the sun started coming up over the horizon — bright orange and almost blinding over a gray and white world.<\/p>\n Yes! That sun — it will fix this! It will warm things up. I won’t have to wonder where the ice is waiting to grab me, because it will melt under the warmth of that rising sun!<\/em><\/p>\n And the words of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!” came back to me once more.\u00a0Hail, the Sun <\/em>(not Son, like I used to think)\u00a0of Righteousness! Life and light to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings.<\/em><\/p>\n The world changed that night when Jesus was born. The Sun rose up over the horizon — with its warmth and its light — and changed everything<\/em>.<\/p>\n Let’s celebrate<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n