Sunday, February 2, 2014

Snow and Ice


I am sure that you heard about the Ice and Snow here in the South.  It was really something.  The weather forecasters talked about it for a couple of days and indicated that it would mostly effect Mobile and the very southern points in Alabama.  WE took the message seriously and had all that we needed on hand.  Monday was quite a nice day, pleasant temperatures and partly cloudy skies. Tuesday morning about 9:30 the light rain started to have an icy sound as it hit the house and branches.  By noon everything was covered with a shiny coat of ice.   There was still a little traffic on the roads, but soon turned to silence.  The schools had already been closed for Tuesday and Wednesday, so the children were all home safe here in Camden.  We watch the news for the minute by minute pictures of what the South was looking like.  By 3:00 we had snow fall on top of the ice.  It wasn’t much, but the two together were pretty treacherous  The Governor and the Mayors were all on the TV explaining what was happening and what they need the public to do. THEY CLOSED  ALL THE ROADS... Except for emergency travel.  The Ice and Storm reached Birmingham.  About 2 ½ hours NORTH of us.  They were not expecting the storm.  The children had gone to school, parents had gone to work....about noon, the storm hit there....parents left work to go get their children and ended up stranded on the roadways and freeways.  Semi trucks were jackknifed, freeways that went down under other freeways were jammed with trucks that had gone down under from one side and could not come up the other side....rescue trucks could not pull them up the other side.  People were stranded for hours and hours.  One Chick Filet near the freeway cooked up 250 chicken sandwiches and employees walked down the packed freeway handing out sandwiches to stranded travelers.  Another man bought 200 Sausage McMuffins and did the same thing, up and down the stalled cars giving out the sandwiches.  The National Guard was called out to help get the children from their schools to their homes.  The Governor said...”you trust your children to their teachers during the day, you can trust you children to be with their teachers at night”.  I think they got them all home except 80 children who managed to have an adventure at school that night.  Wednesday everything stayed closed down until mid afternoon when things slowly and I mean slowly started to thaw.
They have NO Road Equipment to handle this kind of weather because they have it so seldom.  We saw on TV two men in the back of a dump truck, loaded with sand, shoveling it out the back...no spreader...just back breaking work..    Since we have been in Alabama, they have had the coldest and wettest weather in 40 years.  We truly have had our own adventures here!  For contrast, we went to Birmingham to the Temple on Saturday and didn’t even need a sweater.  WE love our little branch.  WE feel we are giving support to the active members and making some friendly connections with some of the less actives.
This is the place we were meant to come to and hope we can do all that the Lord would have us do.  Thank you for your LOVE and SUPPORT.  Lovingly miss you and joyful to be here.  Love Grandma and Grandpa

Our Mission President, President Hanks just sent out his weekly letter.    I want to share this message....

”Do you know the most famous scripture in the Christian world? You should. It is John 3:16… you’ve probably seen signs in the background at all kinds of events around the world that proclaim John 3:16.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I testify to you that this is true. We have a Heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us and has created a plan for us to learn and grow and then return to him. His plan included the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ – who gave himself that we might return to God.

Perchance, do you know the next verse? I hope you will memorize them both. Here it is:

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

I testify that this too is true and real. God is not a “lightning-bolt” God, looking to catch us making mistakes and hoping that we’ll fail. He is actually our Heavenly Father and He has no interest in condemning us or watching us fall. He is hoping and praying and rooting for us all to make it home.

John 3:16 AND John 3:17. Memorize them… and make them yours!”

No comments:

Post a Comment