Pennsylvania gets a lot of snow in the winter and I like to be prepared. So I always listen to the weather forecast. Sometimes, when the reports call for heavy snow, I think back to a certain February night in my childhood. It was no ordinary night.
“I hope it snows for my birthday tomorrow,” I told Gramma as she tucked me in. “A whole bunch. I hope it snows so hard I won’t have to go to school!”
“Don’t just hope,” she said. “Why don’t you pray about it?” Gramma believed in praying for everything, big or small. But did God really listen to prayers about snow on a little girl’s birthday? What an idea, I thought, and gave it a try. If Gramma believed my prayer might be answered, I would too.
Early the next morning I opened my eyes to see Gramma at my bedside. “Look out the window, birthday girl,” she said, pulling open the curtains.
I jumped out of bed. The world was covered in a blanket of deep, white snow as high as the bushes in the backyard. Fat flakes were still falling from the sky. School was cancelled!
I spent that birthday playing board games, building a snowman, baking cookies with Gramma—and thanking God for hearing my prayer, just like Gramma promised. I couldn’t have asked for a better day to turn seven years old.
It has since crossed my mind that Gramma liked to check the weather reports just as much as I do. Perhaps she had seen one that very night—one that predicted heavy snow and school closings—and took a leap of faith. God hears grandmothers’ prayers for teachable moments too.
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