On Saturday I woke up to the worst weather in Oklahoma--and that includes tornados.  The trees were so loaded with ice that if they hadn't already split from the weight of the ice on the branches, the limbs that had been twenty feet in the air the day before were bent to the ground in semi-defeat.

The ground was still wet, but everything over one foot off the ground was frozen.  What a mess.  I got in the car to drive to Becky's and it was like driving in a mine field.  Tree limbs lying across the roads, with electric and phone lines either broken or hanging in huge draping arcs covered with ice cycles drooping under the weight.  The weatherman said that Edmond got the brunt of it.

It is the single worst type of weather that we get in Oklahoma--as far as I am concerned.  It affects everyone for days and days.  My house in Pryor was all electric (gas wasn't available in our area) and in one ice storm that we had,  Ken and I were without power for seven days.  You really don't know how much you depend on electricity until you don't have it.

After that, I had a propane fireplace built into the family room and bought my own propane tank.   I really don't like to suffer.  I am a city girl.  I want the grocery store to stay in business.  I don't want to milk a cow or gather eggs or feed livestock in any kind of weather.  When I need eggs, I call Pat.  She has chickens and brings the eggs to my door.  She is definitely not a city girl.  At all.

I am sure God has a reason for ice storms--if only to make us thankful for good weather.  And make us long for Spring.

"For...the rain comes down and the snow (and ice) from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater."  Isaiah 55:10  I guess I will accept that reason.  But I do prefer rain or snow.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I hope you can spend it with your loved ones.  God has given us so much to be thankful for.  I always start with thankfulness for my eyesight.  My mind.  My family.  My home.  My church....and on and on.

Sometimes it's good to just list all the good things.  We have a tendency to think about what is wrong rather than what is right.  Talk to God about the good things He has given you.  I am sure he gets tired of us only telling him what is wrong.

People are going to start arriving today.  I am thankful that I have four bedrooms.  When I started looking for a house here in Edmond, I asked for two or three bedrooms.  I wanted to downsize.  That didn't happen because there wasn't anything available within a mile of where I wanted to live.  So up till now, I've been thinking the house is too big.  It isn't.

I've been cooking all day.  I think I am ready for the influx.

Don't forget to thank the cook.

I will return on Monday.  I am going to take the next four days for family.

God bless you.  And yours.

In my family, everyone has strong opinions.  (Imagine that.)  With Thanksgiving coming up, strong opinions would be okay if everyone had the same opinions.  But they don't.  And of course, everyone wants to get their opinion out there.

We have 35 people coming to Becky's on Thursday.  We have people who think we shouldn't take the Syrian refugees in--that we should help see that they are settled in Lebanon, Iran, Kuwait, or some other Asian country.  And we have people in our family that not only think we should admit them immediately, but take them into our own homes.  We have falling off the left-wing liberals, and right wing anti-government interventionists.  I bet you have some of both of those in your family, too.

That is what you get when you raise your children to think for themselves and obey the dictates of the Bible.  You get the "Love your neighbor as yourself," group.  And the "Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord," group.  You gotta love them both.  God does.

I got so tickled at Becky today.  She said, "Well, Mom, some of our family can't stay but a couple of hours because they have other obligations.  They'll have just enough time to eat, get into a political fight, get mad and go home."  I said, "Sounds like a plan."

One good thing, they all have been raised to love God and love his people.  So they will go home still loving each other.  I hope, I really hope that they will keep their opinions to themselves and simply catch each other up on what has been going on in their lives.  They are coming from Chicago, Orlando, Dallas, and who knows where else.  We don't get together on any other holiday.

"I have an idea," Becky said.  "I'll just tell everyone that wants to argue about politics--and get mad--to go eat in the kitchen, and the rest of us will eat in the dining room.  What do you think about that idea?"  By then, Becky was laughing along with me.

We have a wonderful, loving, funny, opinionated family.  Thank God for every one of them.

What does it mean to be a Christian?  I went to the doctor yesterday, and while I was there, we started talking and I asked him if he was a Christian.  He said, "We all believe in the same God.  Hindu, Muslim, Jew and Christian.  It will turn out ok because we all have one God."

I said, "Well, I believe that Jesus was God.  That he is God.  That makes a difference."

The problem with religion is that people get "religious."  They quit thinking.  They quit listening.  They don't read the account of God speaking to us--the Bible.

The problem with people  is that they are sinful.  They have an inner thermostat that measures whether something is right or wrong.  They know when they do wrong.  And do it anyway.  And somehow, they know that they need forgiveness.  But where is a person to go??

Living with the wrong things you have done is hard because you can't undo them.  Ken always said that the mind is like a picture gallery where you hang the events of your life.  And when you least expect it, a picture pops up  that you desperately want to forget.  But it hangs there, and haunts you.  You can't get rid of it.

But then Ken would add that when the master painter comes into your gallery, he is able to paint over those pictures and paint new ones.  He is the only one who can do away with our sins.  That is what Jesus (God) died for.  No other religion offers forgiveness of sin, and redemption.  The death of Christ gives us a path to God.  His resurrection offers us hope.

Clean.  We can be clean.  "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  Romans 3:23
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9

Ken passed away two years ago today.  I guess I will mark that anniversary for the rest of my life.  When he asked me to marry him, he said, "I am eight and a half years older than you.  It won't matter much now, but someday it will."  He was right.

He had an amazing life.  I am glad I got to share it.

I drove to Pat's house for supper.  She lives in the country on a farm.  Back roads.  Two lanes, no side shoulders.  It was alright going there, but coming back in the pitch black, no moon, dark of night was a challenge.  I'm not sure that I will try that again.  On the other hand, if I quit doing things, well, I will end up not doing things.  And I don't want that.

I am amazed at how much paper I have collected over the years.  I just threw it all in boxes when I moved, and now, I am going through it all.  What a mess.  I try to do a little bit every day, but it seems endless.  Things that seemed important enough to keep are now just junk.  One thing I never  did was put anything in the attic.  Or a storage shed.   I am thankful for that.  It just ends up as mouse food.  Or it molds.  If I don't need it now, then my philosophy is that I need to give it to someone who can use it.

Except for paper.  I found a ledger from l957 that I had kept--with every penny I spent.  The numbers were funny.  You get a real sense of inflation when you find records that are fifty-eight years old.

God has taken care of me for a long, long time.  It's easy to see his hand in my life when I look backwards.  At every point, in every tragedy, sickness and crisis,  He was there.  I spend a lot of time living in the past.  Things are much clearer to me looking back.  And our stories are the fabric of who we are.

Autumn is over as far as I am concerned.  Once the leaves fall, once you get up and there is frost on the ground, once the temperature drops below forty, and once I reset the thermostat to heat instead of cool--winter is here regardless of what the calendar says.

I used to like cold weather.  But now, it takes me so long to don coat and gloves and scarves, etc. that I dread it.  I am already thinking of spring.

Pat has a friend who said that he would build me a raised bed for my vegetable garden.  I missed out on everything this year for the most part because I was moving.  I find myself already thinking about March and planting tomatoes and parsley, green peppers, kale, lettuce, spinach and okra.  I will plant asparagus even though it will take three years before it can be harvested.  That is called faith.  And at my age, hope.

"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle (dove) is heard in our land;"  Song of Solomon 2:12

"O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?"  (by Percy Shelley) says it all.  And especially in Oklahoma where the winter winds are so bitter.

The man that takes care of my yard planted something that came up green after the bermuda turned brown.  So at least the yard doesn't look dead.  And God, in his mercy, designed some plants and shrubs that stay green throughout the winter.

I do not want to wish my life away, but I can hardly wait for spring.  I lived in Southern California three different times.  But all that sunshine got boring.  So I guess I will be thankful for winter.

"In (not "for") everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
1 Thessalonians 5:18  I guess that includes winter.

I have just finished reading the book of Acts again.  It is the only designated history book in the New Testament.  It is somewhat like reading a diary.  Luke wrote it and gave a observational account of the events following the resurrection--both in Jerusalem and during the ensuing trips with Paul.  I am amazed at the number of cities and towns that Paul visited.  Considering how difficult travel was, you have to be in awe of the drive and passion he had to spread the gospel to the Gentiles.  I am also very, very thankful that Luke wrote it all down.

We owe Paul a great debt.  Without his determination, we who are not Jewish might not have received the gospel.  And he died because of that determination.     When I was in Rome, I visited the place where he was incarcerated.  It was a cistern, a hole in the ground carved in stone to hold water, but used as a prison for Paul.  Cold, dark, and lonely.

You can almost hear how chilled he was when he asked Timothy to come to Rome and to bring "... the cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus when you come.  Bring it with you, and the books but especially the parchments." 2 Timothy 4:13

Paul was a great student of Scripture.  He wanted his books and parchments.  And a cloak to wrap himself in to keep from freezing.  And then he wrote letters--for which we must be eternally grateful. He was the most prolific of the New Testament writers, under the most difficult of circumstances. His letters have endured and we take comfort in the messages he wrote us concerning Christ.

Some people make tremendous sacrifices for the good of others.  It is a God-like trait.

As the weather turns cold, remember those who have no cloak.  At this time of year, legitimate charities make appeals for assistance.  It might be a good time to pick one to support.  Better still, volunteer your time in your own community.