Miracle in the Springtime Snow

In 2002 and 2003, I led the committee that prepared and hosted my church’s annual women’s retreat. Each year, 100 – 125 women would travel about two hours away from our community to spend time growing in relationship with Jesus and in relationship with each other.

The 2002 women’s retreat was the first time I had ever led any ministry-related work that—as I liked to say—directly impacted a human. I’d done quite a lot of ministry work by then: church treasurer for three years, worked to help start our church’s preschool, and served as a volunteer for the activities my young son was doing. But organize and lead a significant spiritual event? I felt completely disqualified.

I felt so disqualified that I felt both compelled and terrified that God wanted me to share my salvation story with the group in 2002. After I was finished, I sat down, my heart still pounding nearly out of my chest. I knew this was one of the first important steps in my path to becoming an actual writer and ‘missionary.’

For the 2002 retreat, I had prayed regularly with prayer chairperson. “Jane” was responsible for keeping prayer front and center for the committee. We knew that the spiritual work that God desired could only be accomplished if the event was covered with significant prayer.

From a spiritual perspective, the 2002 event was transformative for many people, not just me. I knew the 2003 event would face more spiritual opposition than the 2002 event had, so Jane and I committed to praying every week for the next retreat, starting almost immediately. Wednesday nights after my little kids went to bed were holy times. Jane and I were so committed that we prayed on the phone, even when on vacation with our families.

In the months leading up to the retreat, I learned of quite a few people who wanted to attend, but just couldn’t afford the fee. Even though we kept the cost as low as possible, it was still too expensive for many. We had built in a scholarship component to the cost to attend, but it was obvious that the requests for help would soon outstrip our ability to pay.

I finally decided that if people wanted to come, finances shouldn’t be a barrier. No announcement was made, but just between me and God, I committed that our family would make up any shortfall that might occur because of giving away so many scholarships. I didn’t tell my husband, and prayed that God would help him understand, especially if what we needed to contribute ended up being over a thousand dollars. We had enough money in our savings to pay the difference, but only one income. Several years earlier was the last time I had earned a paycheck.

The weekend of the retreat came. We ventured to the facility, which sits on top of a small mountain near Charlottesville, VA. Friday afternoon was a beautiful sunny day. Warm early spring breezes filled the air, with temperatures in the upper 60’s.

Saturday morning, we got up to a chilly day. The temperatures didn’t get out of the low 50’s, reminding us all that spring had not yet taken hold.

Sunday morning, I woke early. I had much to do to finish out the weekend. Looking outside, I was stunned: there was five inches of snow on the ground, and it was still snowing, hard.

The facilities director found me, and we talked over some options for the day. The morning program got underway, though a few people decided to pack up and head home immediately. The facility was five miles from a main road, much of it unpaved gravel.

By mid-morning, the facilities director was sitting in on our sessions, anxiously trying to get my attention. The camp was shutting down at 11am, and everyone had to leave. She encouraged everyone to grab some lunch before heading down the mountain.

Pulling me aside, she said, “We’re not going to charge you for lunch, since we’re asking you to leave before noon.” I protested: not only was the camp letting anyone who wanted get some food, she had already purchased food for more than 100 people, and her kitchen staff were still there. But the director insisted. The cost of the food would be theirs to bear, not ours.

Before I left, she wrote a check to reimburse us for the cost of our lunch. I noticed that it was more than $1200, but thought little more of it until later that week.

By the following Friday, I had submitted all the receipts to my church for reimbursement, and was working on the financial accounting reports for the event. Looking at the profit and loss statement, I was stunned to see that the net financial result was $95.

The event cost more than $12,000. The income and expenses were within 1% of each other, even with providing so many scholarships. The cost of the lunch was almost to the dollar the amount we had overspent.

Would God have engineered so much snow if I hadn’t committed to cover the cost of the scholarships? I have no idea. He did many amazing things that weekend, no doubt in response to our consistency and persistence in prayer. But He also blessed my private obedience to what He asked me to do.

There have been plenty of things since that time that have been very expensive for my family. God hasn’t magically made college tuition disappear for my kids. 🙂 But things like the miracle He worked with snow have helped me open both my eyes and my wallet even wider, to see what He might be up to today, and how He is answering my current earnest prayers.