Weather in Indiana

People have always said that if you don't like the weather in Indiana, you should stick around for a few days because it's bound to change.  Yesterday, the saying should have gone something like this: If you don't like the weather in Indiana today, stick around for a few "hours" because it will surely change.

The morning started out with rain, rain, and more rain. Flood warnings were posted all around us. After lunch, the snow started to fall and several in my office had the true Christmas spirit and loved the snowglobe effect taking place right outside our window. The Scrooges of the bunch were Bah Humbugging all over the place.  By the time I left the building at 5, the parking lot was a big slushly mess.

Of course, I wasn't prepared and did not have an ice scraper, but I love the snow and dislike "November rain" where the cold chills you to the bone so I was still happy. Even though the wind was blowing fiercely and my pony tail was standing straight out, I was still all smiles!

It took me 2 hours to drive home from the University instead of the normal 35 minutes.  I counted 9 cars in the ditch between work and Converse. I expect these people were just driving too fast for the conditions.

The biggest snows came in the northeast part of the state, as you can see from the map below. Power lines were down and lights were out in many of the hardest hit areas. Our lights flickered and went off a couple of times for just a minute or so. Daylen was scared since his nightlight kept flickering so I took him a battery operated light and unplugged his nightlight, and all was well. Many homes in Miami County lost their power since the snow was wet and heavy, but we were fine.
The cold upper level low pressure system produced convective-type precipitation, such as you often see in spring and summer, with highly variable amounts and thunder and lightning in some spots. It was strange on the drive home with the lightning all around me as I drove.  I never did see bolts since there was so much cloud cover, and it reminded me of heat lightning since there really wasn't any sound to it.

 Peru officially got 10 inches of new snow yesterday.  I expect that we weren't too far behind.

Count Your Blessings

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Roger Babson, a famous statistician was having lunch with the President of Argentina, "Mr. Babson," the President said, "I have been wondering why it is that South America, with all its natural advantages, mines of iron, copper, coal and silver, rivers and great waterfalls is so far behind North America?" Babson replied, "Well, Mr. President, what do you think is the reason?" He answered, "South America was founded by the Spanish who came in search of gold. North America was founded by the Pilgrims who went there in search of God."

If we live a life of seeking gold — the blessings of God but not God Himself — we end up losing both. The Pilgrims, who gave us the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving, came in search of God. It is because of this that America has reaped blessing upon blessing. We need to examine ourselves and be careful that we are seeking God in all things, putting Him first and giving thanks to Him always.

Seek first the kingdom of God and He will surely provide from His riches in glory. Have you said “Thank you,” to God today?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Be sure to take time to count your blessings and name them “ton by ton.”

(From Worthy Devotions by George Whitten.)...Shared by Pastor John Wrightsman

Double Nickels

Today was my 55th Birthday!  All of my boys and their families were home for the weekend.  This birthday I had 7 grandchildren.  Who knows how many I will have next year?? Today I am reminded of how blessed I am.

Have you ever tried to get 7 children to all smile at the same time? We knew it would be difficult, but they did pretty good I would say. It was a great weekend full of fun...toddler food fun, arm wrestling, Boxers or Briefs, shooting guns, exhausted kids and enough memories to fill my cup!

My Three sons

Oma in Charge

These three remind me of a time when I was raising my own.  I guess I'm not that far out of the saddle...most days anyway. I do notice that some things are different now, and I'm not as young as I sometimes think I am.  I'm thankful that I had my children young enough to have an extra measure of patience, but old enough that I treasured every moment we had together. The parents of these Three Muskateers took a much needed trip to the coast to visit Logan & Emilie so this Oma is playing parent to the brood this weekend. 

Feeling Good

When I took this picture, Vernon said, "This picture isn't going to show up on Facebook, is it?"  I assured him that it would not.  However, I couldn't pass up posting it to my blog because this is a great moment in our lives.  This farm that has been in this family for four generations is now officially ours, and that my friends, is a wonderful feeling.