Weather in Wausau Cancels City!

People in Wausau are hardy people, that is what make what happened today so difficult for me to process. Tonight it is forecast to get cold, at 8 PM it should be about -5F on the mercury (note to kids… thermometers used to actually have mercury in them, and were not digital). With wind chill it will feel like it is -20 to -25F. That is cold but hardly justifies closing down the city. To make matters worse I was personally part of the decision to cancel our ministries tonight. Our official policy is we cancel when the school system cancels. They canceled this afternoon, and after much debate we followed our policy. Working backwards I see how this happened. The forecast for tomorrow AM calls for -36F with wind chill, anything below -35F triggers an automatic cancelation. When you think about kids waiting outside for a bus in that kind of weather, wow that will either kill them or make them stronger. The school system then called off events this evening, locking in our decision at IBC. Any church in Wausau could meet tonight without putting kids in danger, but I don't think any will. We get into the "What if" thinking…what if my car breaks down, what if I can't get a tow truck, what if my fuel pump is frozen, what if my coat is not warm enough…. And so on. What is that? Is it genuine responsibility, wisdom or is it fear? I am not sure? It will become evident tonight if canceling Wausau was a good idea. Here are a few predictions, tonight restaurants and shopping establishments will be full, tomorrow as I drive to work (unless it is too cold for me to get out of bed) I will see kids outside playing in the cold. Here is an idea maybe churches should change their cancelation policy to close when Walmart closes rather than the schools? Well enjoy the night with your family and we will see you Sunday.