God of the Airmass, God of the Orphans

Courtney and I were dining at our favorite Mexican joint today for lunch, and yakked of the cold weather that's blanketed our fine state. With a pitiful look in her eyes, Courtney says to me, "Do you know who I feel really sorry for when it gets so cold out?" Sympathetically, I nodded. I knew exactly who she was going to say. As I opened my mouth and stated "the homeless," Courtney simultaneously said, "my dog." We both sat there a minute and burst out laughing. Sweet Courtney. I love her, and her little dog too.

Speaking of the weather, I think I have a problem. I am to embarrassed to admit how many times I refreshed weather.com today in my browser window. By noon, I'd almost given up hope of a work-cancelling snow day tomorrow. But then something miraculous happened. My browser refreshed, and a new alert appeared:

... SNOW WILL ACCOMPANY ARCTIC BLAST... A REINFORCING ARCTIC AIRMASS IS DIVING DOWN THROUGH THE NORTHERN PLAINS WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS THE DAKOTAS AT EARLY AFTERNOON. THE LEADING EDGE OF THE ARCTIC AIRMASS WILL MOVE DOWN INTO WESTERN MISSOURI THIS EVENING AND INTO FAR WESTERN TENNESSEE AROUND DAYBREAK THURSDAY. SNOW IS ALREADY FALLING IN ADVANCE OF THIS SYSTEM WHICH WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE JUST BEFORE DAYBREAK AND THEN ADVANCE EASTWARD DURING THE MORNING... AND CONTINUE INTO THE AFTERNOON... BEFORE TAPERING FROM THE WEST. THE LEADING EDGE OF THE ARCTIC AIRMASS IS EXPECTED TO PASS THROUGH NASHVILLE DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON ON THURSDAY WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO THE WEST AND BECOMING GUSTY. THE LEADING EDGE OF THE ARCTIC AIR MASS IS EXPECTED TO REACH THE PLATEAU BY 5 PM CST. SNOW AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES.

This so-called "arctic airmass" could be the insurance I need for a day off work. I quickly alerted Nathan and Courtney to my discovery, and was met with skepticism. Nathan wondered, "what is an arctic airmass anyway?" Well, Nathan, an airmass is a large volume of air defined by its temperature and water vapor content. Arctic is an adjective describing the thermal characteristics of the airmass, classifying by its source region. Hence, Antarctica.

Weather.com, you speaketh love poetry to my soul.

After work today, I drove to the UPS store to mail a package to an orphanage in Moldova. I sponsor two Moldovan orphans through Children's Emergency Relief International. I began sponsoring kids with CERI in 2005, when the Nashville-based partner organization, Sweet Sleep, began building beds for children in orphanages. Through Sweet Sleep, I was able to buy my two girls, Ana and Angela, wooden bed frames, mattresses and bedding. CERI allowed me to correspond with the girls through letters, providing a Romanian translator, and also allowed me to send clothing and gifts to the girls. About a year ago, my first two girls were removed from the orphanage and placed in a permanent home with a family. I was so joyous to see the system at work! Moldova is the poorest country in Europe and contributes heavily to sex trafficking. Victory for two girls!

Soon after, I was assigned two new girls, Veronica and Marina. Aren't they lovely? They're holding the clothing and toys I sent them for Christmas last year.

Last year, I was able to send the box of goods to CERI in Texas, and a mission team took the items over and delivered them to the girls in person. CERI set me up to do this again in right before Christmas, but at the last minute, they ran out of room in their suitcases. So, I need to ship the box of goods myself.

Now, back to today. I arrived at the UPS store and lugged in the 13 pound box. I filled out all of the customs forms, itemizing every piece of clothing and toy in the box. The UPS employee measured my box, punched the numbers into the computer, and then formed a frown on her face. She looked up at me, grimaced further, and said, "I've got bad news." In my mind, bad news was anything near $75 for shipping. I anticipated a $40 tab, but would've bit the bullet and paid the $75 anyway. I braced myself for the worst, and it got worse. "To ship UPS to Moldova, it's going to be $511," she said. My mouth hit the UPS counter, a la Roger Rabbit. She continued, "Or, we could make arrangements to send it USPS and that will cost $178." I shook my head in disbelief. After a minute or two of subdued panic, I thanked her for her help and walked out the door with the box in my arms.

I'm going to get in touch with CERI and Sweet Sleep tomorrow to see if there's some way I can get the items packed for a team trip. But mostly, I'm going to pray. I know God wants two Moldovan girls to have warm sweaters, new jeans, clean socks, school supplies, and even a few toys this winter. I don't know how He will work it out, but I know that God takes care of the birds...so he'll certainly take care of Veronica and Marina. Please join me in praying for His sovereign solution.