snow on bird bath I had a paid speaking engagement (and a booth at their trade show) scheduled for January 26, 2016, in Myrtle Beach. I was going to drive down on Monday, the 25th.

But a couple days before I was to leave, we had a major snowstorm. It didn’t stop snowing until late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

So, Sunday morning my husband and I began the daunting task of shoveling our driveway (think we had close to 30 inches). Our neighbor from across the street came over with his snow blower—he spent an hour and a half helping—and our only goal was to be able to get of the garage and up the driveway, just wide enough for the car.

We were done early enough that I even had time to sit and watch some football on Sunday!

While we were digging out on Sunday, there was a medical emergency further down the road in our subdivision—so the county had to plow part of the road so EMTs could get there. Regular snow plows did not come until Monday afternoon.

Because I was being paid to speak (and it wasn’t snowing in Myrtle Beach), I felt I needed to make every possible attempt to leave on Monday—and I doubt I could have found a flight. Companies/government had shut down.

Monday morning, I walked to end of our street saw that once I got out of our subdivision, roads would be drivable. Had the storm come a few hours later or lasted longer, I’m not sure I would have been able to get out.

Because schools were closed and the government was shut down, I made the best time on 270 and the Beltway ever! And the radio station I was listening to was commercial free (guess the DJs put together music for the day). I had great music—classic rock and contemporary Christian stations the entire way.

As I was driving into Myrtle Beach, I could see there was going to be an amazing sunset. But I was headed east, so the sunset was behind me. I didn’t stop to take pictures because I wanted to reach my destination while there was still some light. However, as the sun was setting, color was hitting the clouds even in front of me—so I did not miss out completely!

The weather in Myrtle Beach was great the next day so I was able to take a walk around the resort.

God’s hand was definitely all over this trip!

Monica Muir