Winter Storm Day 1

January 4, 2025 Well, this is certainly not a night to be out and about. I don't know why anybody would want to try it. We've been hearing how bad it's going to be for several days now. What, exactly, would be the point? Sometimes I think people just enjoy risking their lives. I know we risk our lives every day just walking around under normal conditions but when it's a winter storm and the streets are covered with ice, why would anyone go out on them? Just one of the many mysteries of life, I guess. I know the expected response might be, "Maybe it's an emergency." Of course. Or, "Maybe it's their job." I get that, but I rather think it's perhaps poor planning. I just saw where the Kansas City Chiefs couldn't fly into Denver today because the Kansas City airport is "closed to flight operations." I wonder how they will get to Denver. Their plane is "stranded," the story says. What does that mean? They are just sitting in the plane on the taxiway as the snow and ice accumulate? That should be interesting. So, when are they expected to be able to take off? Why don't they just reschedule the game and stay all night in the hotel? These things I do not understand. They are having a lot of re-runs on TV. I suppose they will do that for awhile. I don't watch it that much. it's on in the background. On the radio too, they're talking about things in the future that have already happened, like Christmas and the election. Everything in this world is a battle. I guess this is what the non-religious people refer to as "survival of the fittest." Sure seems like that sometimes. People in the natural without any belief in God are like wild animals in their natural habitat, I guess. I find that a very unsatisfying worldview. I don't know about you. I did a bit of reading today in The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill. I cozied up in my room with the electric blanket and kept falling asleep, but I did read a lot. It's going to be a long time reading it. Then I will read the next one called Their Finest Hour. Two in a series of six he wrote about the Second World War. I don't know much about the history of it but I do appreciate Winston Churchill and enjoy learning about him, and, of course, he is a brilliant writer. It is not an easy read. I don't suppose I expected it to be, and I don't expect to be able to understand everything without looking a lot of things up, most likely, but it's worth it to me. That series of six books he wrote about the war sat at my mother's house, probably since the 50s, and I saw them every day, but never thought about reading them until now. I also wish I would have gotten them from my estranged brother, but it's too late for that now. So I ordered paperback copies from Thriftbooks, of the first two. I love to read, but I'm not like my late friend Pat. She could read all day. When I try to read all day I end up getting sleepy, like I did this afternoon. I am pretty sure I have some form of ADHD. I remember starting to have a dream about having a cat and feeling its fur against my skin. It was wonderful. And then I woke up. I miss that. I don't suppose I will have any more pets. I see these posts on Facebook where people have to say goodbye to their beloved pets, and it is just so sad. I remember what I went through with my kitty in 2013 and my dog in 2016, and I don't think I could take it again. It's too sad. I have enjoyed my Christmas vacation so much but now that it's time to go back to work I am wishing I could retire, but, you know, that takes planning, and I didn't plan for that. Before I was a Christ follower, I was trying to do something where I could eventually be self-supporting without having to have a job. But it didn't work out that way. After I got saved, all I read in the Bible was how God was going to take care of me. I didn't read anything about retirement. So I think of myself as "semi-retired," because I have summers off, or at least 10 weeks or so. I couldn't do it without the help of my little social security check, but it makes me feel better to think of myself as that because I need to be content where I am. I know God gave me the job I have. That's all I know, and I know he said he would take care of me, and so that's that. So I saw a guy at the store today with his cart filled up with about six or eight gallons of bottled water. I saw dozens of folks stocking up for whatever hardship might be in the offing because of this storm that's on its way, stocking up on food, and it just occurred to me I wonder if people very often think about preparing for eternity that way? It would be great if they would. I bought some fried chicken legs, a box of microwave buttered popcorn, a package of Vienna Fingers and a gallon of milk. Yesterday I bought a couple of months supply of loose leaf orange pekoe tea at the mall. It took considerable planning and thought preparing for this because I have gotten lost or turned around--frustrated, anyway--every time I have gone to the mall. This time I figured out a way to find the tea store that was the easiest and even wrote it down in my phone so I won't forget. It occurs to me now how much time do I spend preparing for eternity? I know that I obsess greatly about what will happen to all my stuff if I suddenly die, and I spend a lot of time thinking about ways to save money, because of a lifetime of doing that, and I think a lot about what I'm going to eat so I don't gain weight. But do I spend a great deal of time preparing for the return of Jesus? Do I spend as much time in his word and praying as I do those other things? Probably not, right? And for people who don't even know the Lord yet, the concept is much more urgent. I used to sing a song called "On The Banks of the Ohio," and it has a line in it that goes like this, "She cried, 'Oh, Willie, don't murder me, I'm not prepared for eternity.'" I didn't used to know what that meant, "prepared for eternity," and that is not the kind of language we use nowadays, but I understand it now, and realize how important it is. So, if there is a single theme today it is should we not be preparing for eternity as diligently as we prepare for a winter storm? And so, I will leave you with that. Thank you for meandering with me through all my bunny trails. I love you, and Jesus loves you. Catch you tomorrow, Lord willing.