Got two - three inches of snow last night, as I check the traffic cams and cameras at various ski lodges we appear to have at least as much as some and even more than others – pretty unusual for us.  However, I have a hunch that there is a lot more snow that what is seen. 

Shore is purdy though.

I was talking with Rose and William.  They had been down at the barn taking care of their goats.  William has a couple of new billy goat kids and another goat is getting ready to give birth to at least one more kid.

Rose said that hers will be another couple of weeks off.

At times like this I am quite happy not to have livestock.  It doesn’t matter how you feel, what the weather is – you HAVE to take care of them.  Feed them, make sure their water tanks are not iced over and, if they are, break up the ice.  Make sure they are as comfortable as possible – and if that means they are in a barn, it also means cleaning up after them.

Carla’s family were ranchers.  Often times Dad had to work away from home – that was where the work was – he helped build the dam here in The Dalles, the Dufur school and many projects in the valley – he stayed in the community during the week and went home on the weekends.  During this time of year there were times he couldn’t make it home.

Norm, mom and the girls had to take care of the cattle and everything else.  They would get up before school and feed them (sometimes over a hundred head) get their water tanks full and when water ran low they would have to take the truck with the water tank on the bed and get water from town – six miles away, and remember this was back in the 1940’s, 50’ and 60’ when the vehicles weren’t as comfortable and the roads were narrower and not as well maintained as today.  Water sloshes, and can make it hazardous to keep the vehicle on the road – in good weather – let alone on snowy roads.

Didn’t matter if there was a blizzard blowing, didn’t matter if it was below zero, they had to take care of the animals – before they took care of themselves.

Wood had to be split and carried into the house, because that is how they heated their home AND how they cooked their meals – on a wood cook stove.

In the winter they ate the fruit of their spring, summer and fall labor.  They planted gardens, watched over it in all kinds of weather – heat and cold – harvested it, canned, dried or froze it.  They butchered a cow or two and had to purchase very little from the store to sustain them. 

The girls were all great seamstresses and made their own clothes.  I can remember (just starting to date Carla) making a comment to her mom, that their clothes looked as good as store bought – her comment were they thought they were better, and as I came to know more, she  was right.

They were almost, not quite, but almost self-sufficient and if the power went out, or they had to do without what we might consider essential – they were able to keep themselves warm, dry (after feeding the cattle and any other animals,) well fed and safely tucked in – while city folk wondered what they were going to do as the electricity shut off, they had no heat, no cooking equipment and the stores quickly ran out of the essentials.

They did their chores, kept care of house and animals, went to school – over that same road that they hauled water – in a school bus, leaving an hour or more before school started and arrived home over an hour afterwards – sometimes just at or before dark – took care of their animals, ate, did their homework, went to bed to get up early to take care of their animals, etc.

They are solid Christians and were active in the church – teaching, worshiping, helping stalwarts for others to learn from and follow.

They were not, and of course, are not, the only families that have undergone that kind of work to maintain their lifestyle and even to survive. 

Today there are many families going through the same thing Carla’s family went through (maybe with less stress with more modern equipment) to provide meat and bread, chicken and eggs, bacon and ham, vegetables and fruits on our tables.

Most of us, today, go to the store and buy whatever we wish – without thinking about how it got there, men and women working through all kinds of weather to produce, to transport and to provide the food we eat.

It is easy to say, “I am glad it is them and not me” but we need to understand, for most of us, the inconvenience a few inches – or even feet of snow – causes us as we go from a warm house, in a warm car to a warm job site – or at least one that has some protection from the elements – that without the dedication and love of their jobs these men, women AND children perform, we would go hungry.

Those that make their living off the land, have my highest respect and sincere thanks.

Job 7:3-4 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

⁴ When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

Waking up in the o-dark-thirty time in the mornings we find satan waiting for this vulnerable time to attack us.  To remind us of all our failures and shortcomings.

It never seems to be the remembrances of the good times, of the Joy of our salvation, of the peace we feel in the Holy Spirit – but it can be.

Sometimes satan’s troubling thoughts are things that we need to deal with, things that even though we have been washed with the Blood of Jesus, they still haunt us.  This is the time to ask God to cleanse us of those thoughts and focus on forgiving ourselves.

But most of the time it is just to hammer us, to try and make our night’s sleep restless and to try and drive us down and away from God.  Making us feel lower than worms.

During those times if we focus on our salvation and the power of the Holy Spirit to subdue and cast satan away – it is surprising how quickly we can find ourselves awakening hours later and not remembering any of it. 

Very few people – if any – are immune from those hours of darkness when satan creeps in; I have read many biographies of great saints of God who had that experience even though we could probably find nothing amiss in their actions, satan will remind them of every little failure.

But those times, for us, are just a few moments.  Most of us are able to find peace through the Holy Spirit and are able to overcome those feelings of failure and inadequacies and continue serving God, knowing that we are not perfect, but that He can still work though us.

Our distress is only temporary, even if it goes on for days, months and even years, we will cast it off in the end and be safely tucked away in heaven, abiding with God forever.

But that is not true of everyone.

Mathew 13:41-42 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

⁴² And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

We face the demons during the night and, when we turn it over to Jesus they are dispersed.

But when a person dies, having refused to accept the salvation Christ offers, he sees his failures forever.

Satan runs his life by him as we see videos run by us.  Details, slow motion, every nuance, every frame of a sinner’s life will be displayed to them.  They will see the opportunities that were given to them and how satan convinced them not to accept Christ.

Demons, dancing with glee over every frame, mocking and laughing at the sinner as his soul burns as he cries out in shame and pain and as he gnashes his teeth in anger at himself, over the pain he is enduring, with the knowledge that this will go on forever.  For eternity; every hour of every day, showing nothing positive, only negative and their rejection of God; For eternity.

There is no escape, there is only great pain and great remorse – which comes too late – in what he has done to bring him here.

He will look out at the Christians as they rejoice together in heaven and cry out to them; they told him of the Christ that could save him, perhaps they still can help him find a way out of the torment – only to find they cannot hear or see him.

There is no remorse, no pain, no suffering in heaven – therefore, I believe, the Christian will not miss anyone that fails to accept Christ, they will simply be wiped from his memories as he celebrates with those brethren that did accept Him in heaven.

Technology today is such that we can barely walk in public without someone monitoring our movements – whether cameras either security or in the hands of the phone of a person.

They are all around us, and while they might not tell the whole story, they show enough that actions might have to be investigated.

Even our homes are no longer secure from observation as we search the internet – neighbor flies drones over our property – or cameras that can ‘see’ through walls can be employed to ‘catch’ us in any wrong doing.

Stores monitor our purchases, cell phones are tracked and when you go close to a business they can ‘page’ you and let you know what they are providing for you.

So, it isn’t too farfetched, is it, to realize that satan has even better resources – he can get into our heads and conscience, he knows our thoughts and uses them against us.

How much worse is it going to be for those that are forced to sit in a fiery furnace with all that pain that comes from burning and find out what people had said about Christ was true – and they could have avoided all of it, all of their pain and torment.

We have heard the weeping of a mother who has lost her child, but it will be nothing compared to what those in hell will experience – both by their own ears and cry out with their own mouths.

They will not be able to turn it off.  They will not be able to turn away.  They will not be able to beg for help.

We gnash our teeth on occasion when in pain or frustration – they will gnash their teeth in between sobs and forever.

They will not be able to plead their case to God – it is too late.

That is why, we, the servants of God, must share His Gospel, His love, His Son with others.  They need to know, and we are told to tell them.

The Holy Spirit will serve the Christian on earth, help us through the torments we go through – but the real blessing comes when we go to the Judgement Seat and Jesus tells God, “He is one of mine.”

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again