The snowman stands in front of a neighbor’s house by the driveway,  tucked into a small grove of scraggly pines. He is a little lopsided in shape but perfectly attired with a long red scarf, a carrot nose and a cap tucked beneath a mound of fresh snow. Two twig arms jut out from his sides and while I couldn’t see any coals for eyes, I’m sure that the two carefully  chosen rocks  “see” just as well.  I noticed  him as I walked with my dog earlier on the  ice rutted road hidden beneath 4 inches of new snow. Walking was treacherous so when I met the snowplow coming towards us,  I waved at the driver and said a silent thank you.

The snowman was my second blessing of the morning and seeing him guarding the property made me happy. Usually the home sits empty because many of our “neighbors” don’t live here year round and I don’t know this family.  The driveway’s not marred by tire tracks and the little snowman’s cap is snow domed.  No one’s been at the house this week.  It is soundless on the road as I walk past.   In the winter quiet of my solitary walk alongside the dark trees, I think of   Robert Frost’s poem.  “Stopping  By Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

The snowman  reminded me that children had been visiting,  perhaps last Christmas weekend and they’d  played in the snow.  Perhaps an “adult” kid instigated the adventure, had gotten them to turn off their devices and  pull their noses out of social platforms to  go outside and roll huge snowballs for the head and torso. I wonder who showed them that playing in the snow was actually fun. Exhilarating, exhausting, memorable fun! I wonder who donated the scarf and hat? I wonder who cut the small branches for arms? I wonder if they sang, “Frosty” as they  danced around him, maybe pitching secret snowballs at each other’s backs?  It made me happy to ponder the life affirming snowman built by children I don’t know. I praised God who just shows up.

The snowman reminds me that there is joy and hope everywhere, especially with children.   Cultural watch dog Scrooges want to take that away from us, to screw us down into misery and bitterness, to keep us inside away from God’s beautiful snowy creations and children locked into  virtual snow globes, in swirling snowstorms of confusion. I believe it is not beyond the reach of these  mean spirited “grumpaholics”  to cancel out  all things Frosty. A white Snowman? Not permitted unless  the non- binary snow thing’s body is made from soot encrusted snow, identifies as a sunflower, wears a drag wig and a rainbow colored scarf. Am I exaggerating or being ridiculous?  Hmmm. I sadly believe such a sculpture probably already stands in somebody’s front yard.  I’ve already heard the perennially malcontent grousing about “White Christmas”. It  offends someone, somewhere, somehow. What’s next?  Will the woke lexicographers go after Snow and Snow balls? The word Snow itself? Where does it end?

Am I apprehensive? Absolutely not.  The Word of God promises me every life giving gift   which the spirit of the age vehemently hates.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” Galations 5:16-26

Satan  replicates the good fruit of the Spirit with his poison: false peace, false love and especially a false “tolerant –of every sin, aberration and deception- Jesus.”  The enemy’s whispers in the dark have become public screeds against Christians, aimed especially at our hope and joy. Jesus warned us about the devil’s intentions and schemes; He gave us His Word instead:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10

I’ll take the Lord at His word;  I’ll take His joy so freely given;  I’ll give thanks for this morning’s unexpected  blessing; and as I walk past my neighbor’s home on the snowy winter road, I’ll wave at the children’s snowman and hum along: “Frosty the Snowman…”