Expectant Prayers ®

It's been a frenzy of a day here at the big Weiss house.  Grades are due in this week and in the wake of  most of the children having the flu last week, we are trying to get caught up on some missed tests.  Some of the kids are still battling fevers, chills, and sore throats.  Even Peter came down with a sore throat in the middle of the night!  Hopefully this week will be the end of the bugs for awhile as it works out of our systems.   

I know I'll breathe a sigh of relief when grades are in... as usual!

Luckily, we missed the crippling ice over the weekend!  We were praying hard and it seems like it missed us, but I do feel bad for those that it hit from Tulsa clear up through St. Louis. I heard reports yesterday of at least 12 deaths due to the weather.  We've experienced at least 3 severe ice storms during our married life.   We had a bad one in Cameron and I remember hearing the breaking/falling of tree limbs in the night. By morning it looked like a tornado had hit and all you heard for days was the sound of chain saws.  We lost power then for a few days.   There was a pretty bad one when we lived in Nashville, but I don't remember losing power.  The main thing there was all the crazy drivers (if you've even lived there you'd know that it's hard for Nashvillians to drive in good weather!  No, offense, but it's true!  Then, a  few years after we moved into this house, we had a horrible ice storm.  We were without power for 10 days.  I remember closing off the doorways to the (at that time) family room with old comforters and keeping a continuous fire lit...and still feeling like we were freezing.   A few days later, we were at least able to go over and sleep and shower at the in-laws house .  They were fortunate to have their power restored fairly quickly.   But, most of our days during those 10 days were over here at the house so that we could get our school work done.  We kept a lot of items from our fridge/freezer in a cooler out on the screened in porch and they stayed frozen, etc due to the frigid conditions outside.  I also remember cooking oatmeal on the grill outside, as well as a variety of other things (our grill is actually hooked up to the gas for the house).  Ah, those days... and I wouldn't wish to revisit them.  I feel fortunate this time around, but I also empathize deeply for those who are experiencing power outages and the like.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the ice storms.

Also, I wanted to mention quickly the return of 2 kidnapped children here in Missouri (St. Louis area).  One of the recovered victims had been gone for 4 years!   This is certainly amazing and my thought is that God answered the prayers of those who were interceding for the boy recently kidnapped.  It was a double blessing to have the other boy found alive as well. 
I have noticed that kidnappings seem to be more prevalent - or at least more publicized in recent years.   What a wicked world we live in!    It also makes us understand how so many would/could readily accept implanting microchips into children for tracking purposes.  Who knows what is on the horizon, but I am not a scoffer.  I still believe in Biblical prophecy and that there will be things like that in the future.    Should it make us scared?  NO, but we are told to look up for our redemption draws nigh and to comfort one another with the promise that Christ is returning again.

Hope you faired well over the weekend and have had a great start to your week.  Blessings to you, friends and we'll see you tomorrow.