Two of our daughters, Deed and Teresa, work for the Corps of Engineers.  Between the two they have worked at all four dams on the lower Columbia River.

Currently, Deed is working at the John Day Dam, and Teresa at The Dalles dam.  Both have been trained and worked for years as electricians, but recently both decided to become operators.

One of their many duties is to lock boats through the dam as they go up or down river. 

Carla realized that there would be a time when both would lock the same boat through – they are about 25 miles apart.  She wanted to hear when they did.

Yesterday, they did.  Deed locked one through at 0545 and Teresa locked the same one through a few hours later.

They had been ‘together’ in their assignments for just over 4 months when it finally happened.

Carla knows that has to be a rare occurrence.  How many other sisters have ever locked the same boat through their individual dams on the same day?

Not a big thing, but fun to contemplate.

Reminds me of the time that Deed was working as an Electrical contractor at the Bonneville Dam and Teresa, who worked as an electrician for the dam, were counterparts on a major project.

Deed did the work on the transformer and then handed it off to Teresa who did the work on the receiving end.  It was a project that took almost a year (+/- can’t remember exactly) to accomplish. 

If you have looked at power lines with multiple wires in them, you have a small idea of what they had to do – thousands of such wires, each and every one had to go from one specific site, to another as they passed from Deed to Teresa.

A complicated and intricate procedure both had to know what they were doing.

Little and large things, minor or seriously dangerous, can go wrong on such a complicated mission, and often did in the past.

Theirs was the only one that came off without a hitch – others all had problems, but that one did not.

They make a good team.

John  5:38-40 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

³⁹ Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

⁴⁰ And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

I watched a video this morning of a ram caught on a tree by one of his curved horns.

It was a small sapling, small enough for the horn to have somehow hooked it, but strong enough to withstand the power of the ram as he went around and around the tree, unable to escape.

The ground around the tree was chopped up by his efforts as he circled around and around that tree. 

A man had come up to help him, but the ram wanted nothing to do with him.  The effort of the ram put the man in danger, he had difficulty getting close.

He somehow got a hold of the top of the tree, trying to break it off, but when it did, it broke several feet above the ram – that didn’t work.

He would put his hand out trying to snag the horn and help the ram, the ram tried to fight, but was hooked on the tree. 

The man had to jump back to keep from being struck by the hooves and often the ram would try to charge him, only to find himself going around the tree.

Finally, after several tries, the man was able to grip the horn and set the ram free – the ram ran off, unharmed.

How many times have we been so wrapped up in our trials and tribulations of life that we can’t see a way clear?

We have run in circles not being able to extricate ourselves from our problems and instead of being free we become weaker and more vulnerable as we struggle.

We learn of how God can help us and free us from our situation, and yet we continue to fight it ‘our’ way.  We reject the helping hand of God and continue the senseless struggle that is getting us nowhere, but placing us in danger of exhaustion – physically, mentally and spiritually.

But when we allow God to act; when we accept His help we find ourselves free and no longer encumbered by the obstacle that had held us down.

 Acts 11-12 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

¹² Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

The truth of God’s majesty and Christ’s deity is found in the scriptures.  The truth of how much God loves His people is found in God’s Word.

It is there for us to read.  When we are told of it, it is there for us to verify.

We need to stop running around the tree of our dilemma and allow God to set us free.

He wants to; it is found in the scriptures.

Later, Art :-)