I was on KODL’s Coffee break program yesterday morning, talking about my book on the Rajneesh.  Teresa recorded it – thank you, Teresa – and below is the link for the first part.

Now when I first checked it I got something else, tried it again and it went through.  Just in case you are interested.

https://youtu.be/sE5znDBZUXc

Teresa:  “That's the link for Part 1.  I can only load 15 minutes of video on YouTube, and that's the easiest way for me to share it, so it's in two parts.  I'll add link to the parts in the descriptions once both videos are loaded.”

Computer has been acting up the past couple of days – ‘think’ we got it taken care of, now; we shall see.

Been watching the news media’s broadcasting of all the problems in Portland.  Vehicle accidents all over.  School buses were also involved, couldn’t get through if they weren’t the ones in the accidents.

They didn’t get some kids home until almost midnight. 

It was a mess, emergency crews, tow trucks or any other vehicle that could take care of people, or their problems were locked into the mess, also. 

Reminds me of a story – some of you have heard it before.

It was my first or second year with the City.  The streets were in bad shape, but the city crews were doing all they could to get the major arteries – especially the hospital routes – clear off and sanded.

It was o-dark-thirty in the morning and the county roads were a mess.  They were having multiple accidents on one stretch of West 10^th Street – right at the Chenoweth bridge. 

The cars were trying to go past it, but the road was on a slight incline and the cars were going too slow and sliding down onto the shoulder.

Others would try and get through, but they too, would either slide or were at least able to stop – in the middle of the road.

The sarge sent me to go out and help the single deputy try and get things sorted out.  He was fit to be tied, he had called the Road Master for clearing and sand, he told him to call the county Judge.  He called the county Judge that refused to send anyone out on overtime, after all ‘at 6:00 that night the roads were fine.’

Someone had managed to call one of the tow companies.  The son of the owner came out in their brand new truck.  It had all the whistles and bells for the time.  You just had to have confidence in that truck and driver, it was ‘pretty.’

He pulled up and tried to get his customer off the shoulder – only – as he pulled the car – his truck started to slide down and he had to stop before he hit the other cars.

Now, we were in a real quandary.  A good driver could get through but we were done, we wouldn’t let anyone coming or going onto the bridge.

After a bit, along comes Pappy Jones.  Pappy was older.  He was driving a 1940’s something truck with a single tow bar out the back.

I watched him weave in and out of the traffic until he got all the way through and they parked it on the shoulder, got out and went to his customer.

The deputy knew him, I didn’t.  His business was located just outside the city limits and the policy of the city was not to use a business that was outside the city if there was a similar one inside the city.

I didn’t know Pappy.  But as he talked to the deputy and then started pulling the tow wire off his rig and slid across the street to his customer’s car, I thought, if that driver in that state of the art machine can’t do it, how is Pappy in that old wrecker going to do it.

Shows you how much I knew.  Pappy got his customer out and then at the request of the deputy started pulling other out.

The driver of the other tow truck came up to Pappy, and meekly said, ‘Pappy, can you help me out?’  And of course he did.

I wish I could have known him better, he had a great reputation, unfortunately he was killed in an accident at his storage yard before Jones Towing was annexed into the city.

But it was a good reminder, never judge a person so quickly, see what they can do first, especially if it is an ‘old codger,’ with a piece of antiquated equipment!

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Exodus 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

Another person I would question the wisdom of using.

Moses, a shepherd leading God’s people out of Egypt? 

What was God thinking?

I mean he was a part of the Pharaoh’s family who, obviously, was not a friend of the Hebrews.

He was a killer, having killed an Egyptian.

At 40 years of age he was ran from Egypt and found himself at a well, married a young lady and tended his father-in-law’s sheep.

He stuttered so was poor at public speaking; how can you possibly lead a small group let alone millions if you can’t talk to them? 

He had given no indication of even wanting to be a leader, let alone be coming one.

Being a shepherd he probably had little interaction with other humans.

How in the world would he be able to lead millions of people, not only out of Egypt but to a land God had prepared for them?

Now as the Pharaoh’s family he had the best education and training, but he cast it all aside, to take care of SHEEP.

All that training and he was a leader of sheep!

I wouldn’t hire him to be in such a position, would you?

But God had been preparing him; every experience Moses went through was teaching him to lead these people out of Egypt.

One of the things shepherds have that most people don’t is a lot of time to think.  It would appear Moses may have taken that time to commune with God.

We sometimes look back on our failures or our inabilities and ask ourselves, how could God possibly use me after that?

But God knows preciously what He is doing.  Every experience we have had in our life is helping us work for God, today. 

And today’s experience will help us tomorrow.

God looks at our heart, if it is open to Him He can do many things through us.

We may not lead millions of people, but we may be the one person someone is going to listen to when we talk to them about Jesus.

Later, Art (-:

As I look out my window this morning I see a grey day.  Everything appears either black or white; even the evergreens don’t appear green, they appear black, dusted with the white of snow.

Except for a bird feeder that is a red barn.  In all that world outside my window there is but one colorful item.

These are the days that drive poor Carla to hunker under her light that mimics the sun’s rays.  Without it she gets low – of course she is not the only one; lots of people have that problem.

One year we had forty days without direct sunlight here in The Dalles, her dad was up here working on the kitchen in our house.  He was growing grumpier as the days went on.  Finally he packed up and went back to Redmond for the weekend, and came back two days later refreshed and ready to get back to work.

Don’t remember having that many days like that in the past – and since yesterday was such a bright sunny day – though still chilly here – the effects of today’s ‘day’ shouldn’t be too hard on us.

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“The cultivated field has yielded itself to the adventure of living. The protecting fence has opened to admit the plow, and the plow has come as plows always come, practical, cruel, business-like and in a hurry. Peace has been shattered by the shouting farmer and the rattle of machinery. The field has felt the travail of change; it has been upset, turned over, bruised and broken, but its rewards come hard upon its labors. The seed shoots up into the daylight its miracle of life, curious, exploring the new world above it. All over the field the hand of God is at work in the age-old and ever renewed service of creation. New things are born, to grow, mature, and consummate the grand prophecy latent in the seed when it entered the ground. Nature's wonders follow the plow.”  AW Tozer

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.  KJV

As Christians we can become complacent.  We get busy with the things that help us care for our family, with the things that allow our children to grow into responsible adults, we need time to decompress – and slowly we stop relying on God, we start just doing things without asking for His help AND blessings on our life.

We start just existing, focusing on our life, but not on what really matters.

We need the Holy Spirit to ‘plow’ our heart, get it broken up and prepared for Him to do more work in our life and through us, present Him to the world in which we exist.

Even if we have remained loyal, fruitful and close to God, we need the revitalization that only the Holy Spirit can give us. 

We need our Pastors, teachers, reading Christian articles, books about other Christians or theology, being with Christians especially those we wish to be like and other gifts that God has prepared.

Continuing that work on the gardens in our heart, we need to share His Gospel, to plant new seeds, to give us new fertilizers, we need to water our hearts with the tears of the joy of forgiveness, all giving us new growth so that we produce vegetation that others may use to consume and become healthy in Jesus.

Even if we renew ourselves daily with God, there are times we just need to walk away, find a quiet place – could be for an hour or two, could be for a day or longer - and listen, remember what He has been telling us, showing us, teaching us and absorb that within our hearts and minds so that we come back to our section of the world refreshed and ready to do His service.

I need that plowing of the Holy Spirit; I need Him to break up ground that has grown old and unable to produce good fruit; I need Him to help me.

Later, Art (-:

Carla came home from work last night and couldn’t make it all the way up the driveway.  About half way up there is a steeper part of the grade and the Toyota just couldn’t get up it.

So she had to walk the final half mile to get home.

That was a surprise to me.  I didn’t think she would have any problems so didn’t get the 4X4 ready.  This morning we still couldn’t have her use it since the Toyota was blocking the driveway.

A little later in the evening it started raining, freezing rains, and that is always a danger. 

This morning I tried talking her out of going to work.  However as we were talking she saw a sand truck go down the street and decided that she would be fine.

I don’t have problems with Carla’s driving, she knows to be careful and the Toyota has good studded tires and is front wheel drive.  However, on slick roads anything can happen.  Other drivers may have less experience, improper tires and/or they are horsing around thinking they are having fun and putting others in danger.

Then you have the four wheel drive people who have never really driven in weather like this thinking that they are invincible and drive like the roads are bare.

This morning we walked through the three feet of snow with an inch of ice on top down the two miles of driveway to get to the Toyota and scrape off the twelve inches of ice. 

I tried one of those ‘hacks’ shown by a local news reporter where you combine 2 parts rubbing alcohol with 1 part water and spray it on the windows when frozen, it just melts off the window....uh, huh.

First I had to go to my third spray bottle before I could get one that worked.  When we got down to the car with its eighteen inches of ice, spraying the mixture didn’t faze it.

We took four hours getting the ice off ALL windows.  I don’t believe in just getting the windshield clean ( or just a bit of clean window – hate seeing people drive like that, it is always a frustration because even when I could pull them over, I never saw them while on duty.)

She backed down the 3 miles to the street and I walked through 6 feet of snow, two feet of ice, up a steep 10 mile driveway, crawling on hands and knees for the last 12 miles and finally collapsed in the kitchen. 

Mission accomplished.

Three hours later, I am thawed out and having a cappuccino.   

The cats and dog just looked at me wondering where their treats were.

I’ll get the pickup ready later today or tomorrow.  It is supposed to rain today, which makes for a real slushy mess, and not get down below freezing – until tonight.  However, this is winter in the Gorge.

I understand that many of you, across the United States, are also getting the roughest winter you have had in a long time.  Take care out there.

By the way, on one of these sites there was a discussion of Oregon’s Basic Rule which allows a person to be cited for driving UNDER the posted speed.  This is one of the conditions sited in the law where the ticket can and should be issued – and believe it or not there are some foolish drivers that think they can go the posted speed and do – often they are the ones causing accidents.

Unfortunately, we cannot legislate common sense.

As I was finishing my devotions the sun came out from behind clouds and shined brightly on Cherry Heights and the houses between, nice.  However, after writing the sentence and doing a quick re-read, it is once again hiding.  Put the temperature is about 33 degrees.

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Hosea 9:1  Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.

VS 6-7 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.

⁷ The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

Revelations 3:17-18 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

As a nation the United States is where Israel was often in their history.

They turned from God, they turned to false prophets, sin became acceptable and they lived their lives like God didn’t matter any longer.

They thought they were invincible, as individuals and as a nation they looked at their riches, their goods and thought that they needed nothing, they were fully prepared to live their lives without God.

But, they were not.  Just as we are not.  Collectively we knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

But God still hasn’t given up on us, He is chastising us, He is calling our attention to the many violations of His Word that we are performing, but there is still hope for America, even in this late date.

2 Chronicles 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Let us pray that we do just that.

Later, Art (-:

Wow what a beautiful sky this morning, deep, deep blue – I call this blue Crater Lake Blue.

However, around the rim of the hills were grey clouds for a few feet, and they are pushing up the Gorge towards us, now.  Mt. Hood was gleaming in the sunshine; however, Mt. Adams was covered with those grey clouds.

Got 22 inches of snow between yesterday morning and this morning; 17 degrees when I got up.  Took a long time to dig out the cars and clear them off.  Carla needed to have the Toyota to get to work so did it first, just in case.

I-84 is closed between Hood River and Troutdale, I understand it is pure ice and in the Gorge that is not good.  First heard about it around 08:30 and it is supposed to stay closed until sometime this evening.

This storm is laying pretty snow on the ground, but also deadly ice.  But, it’s just another winter in the Gorge.

Not much cloud covers, so figure it will get cold once again tonight.

Forecast for next day or two is some rain, that could really make for hazardous driving around here, we shall see.

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1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

We meet people every day that do not believe in God.  Most won’t say anything, some will challenge us, given the opportunity.

AND some will not only challenge us, but seek us out so they can try and humiliate us for our belief in a ‘God’ that they do not believe exists.

Unfortunately many of those people are in a position of power, especially if they are teachers or professors.  I have seen these people bully others and hammer them down if they profess their beliefs.  Often they will make statements to make sure they offend Christians, just to see who will answer them so they can humiliate them in front of the rest of the class.

We need to be sure our children are grounded in God’s Word so that when those challenges are made they can hold their own.

Jesus warned us, many times, that in following Him we would be hated by the world.

And even in this season that hatred comes out loud and clear. 

I once heard that ‘Christmas is the day the whole world loves a baby.’  Not sure who said that and I am pretty sure he wasn’t right when he did say it – but it sure isn’t right today.

The world denies the Jesus of the Bible.  They deny His deity and His rightful place in history as well as their spiritual well-being.

However, we do not have to be afraid of these encounters.  Every Christian has the Holy Spirit living within them.  That is the power we can rely on when we face opposition from the world.

We may not be able to say very much, some circumstances and those in authority might block that, but we can stand for the God the Son, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Who knows who may be watching and how our reactions and stands might affect – even those who choose to challenge and harangue us may someday come to Him from what they learned from us.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Later, Art (-:

All the animals, birds, cats and dog are fed.  Birds are congregating at the feeders – except for the hummingbird one where one tyrant is trying to defend it as his own (a pretty common trait of the bird and one we see around here a lot) and the cats and dog are hunkered down for a nap.

“If this should seem like a bit of theorizing, remember that always the greatest Christians have come out of hard times and tough situations. Tribulations actually worked for their spiritual perfection in that they taught them to trust not in themselves but in the Lord who raised the dead. They learned that the enemy could not block their progress unless they surrendered to the urgings of the flesh and began to complain. And slowly, they learned to stop complaining and start praising. It is that simple—and it works.”  AW Tozer

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.  KJV

To be honest, I have never taken joy in any of my infirmities or persecutions, but I do know that often it forces me to my knees asking God to make me stronger, to make me more compliant to His wishes; to remain strong with Him.

While I would rather have Him take away the challenges, I know that His desire is to help me through them so I can learn to trust Him more.

Still, I cannot say what Paul said, I understand it, but I struggle with it; and admire his courage and determination AND his showing us how to live our lives for Christ.

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Below is my own diatribe on ‘Fake News:’

I have to laugh as I read and hear how the major national news outlets, broadcast and print, are going to search out fake news.  They rarely point to themselves, instead they point to the social media and the web blogs and pages, mostly the conservative ones, as the problem.

Both the Democrats and the Republicans, as well as a lot of people through their blogs and postings, propagated and distributed opinions and false assumptions as fact – and the major news outlet were as guilty if not more so than the social media sites in broadcasting false information.

It became very apparent election night that the so called elite journalists of the major networks didn’t do their job.

They had misworded their poll questions in favor of Hillary, so they got a response that reinforced their bias.  You can make statistics say almost anything you want them to say.

As Mark Twain wrote:  “There are lies, d... lies, statistics.”  Benjamin Disraeli called them the three lies.

They refused to consider Trump as a legitimate candidate so they didn’t follow up on many leads that might have given them pause to delve deeper, rather than accepting their own bias.

They did what many of us do, they wanted to find evidence of their own beliefs, so that is what they looked for, dismissing solid evidence to the contrary.

But they are journalists, and if they want the recognition and respect that name implies, they need to put aside their bias and report the facts – not as they want them to be, but as they are.

The proof of that they did not do that is in the reactions of every major news outlet and particularly the liberal outlets when Trump started winning, heavily, especially in areas that had always supported democratic candidates.

They were almost in a coma as they broadcast their disbelief in what was occurring.  They ‘didn’t see it coming.’

I can remember one outlet refusing to call the election for Trump in a certain state, stating something to the effect they wanted to make sure they were right.  – ‘twas about time, they were one of them that had disregarded the growing evidence that Trump could win the election much earlier in the year and continued to pound the table for Clinton.

Trump has many characteristics that even staunch supports find offensive, the news people chose to focus on the terrible things he was doing and saying and not actually looking at how people were responding.

Anyone that supported, or even had a good word for Trump, were labeled as ignorant, red-necked and any other names you may recall. 

While National news media was sounding the trumpet for a huge Clinton win, Rasmussen Reports was showing this was a much closer race than anyone else was predicting.  They have an unbiased approach and do their homework – they are one of the very few research outlets that predicted that Trump could win the election – and they said why, the national news media didn’t pay attention.

NOW, the major news outlets are going to hunt down these false news pieces – they need to start within their own house.  Make sure their policies are designed to report what is happening and not fabricating, or at least not allowing their biases to guide the stories.

There is nothing wrong with editorializing, but when it is promoted as facts then it is ‘fake news.’  It is what someone thinks about the news, not what the news actually is – there is a difference.

We know that the First Amendment, among other freedoms, specifically says that government could not interfere with the freedom of the press.  I have no problem with that.

While there always was and will be some bias, until just a few short years ago we could support and believe, again for the most part, what the news media was saying – they had credibility.

However, too many reporters, editors and owners of national news media outlets are allowing their own personal feelings interfere with accurate and honest reporting.

The press has been called the ‘Fourth Estate’ for centuries – and they CAN provide insights into what is happening in our country and hold government accountable – but ONLY if they are honest, only if they report accurately and not create the news; as was quite obviously done this past year.

They have lost that legitimacy, that ‘aura’ of honesty and believability. 

They need to clean up their act and get back to straightforward reporting.

Until that happens millions of people are not going to believe them and will find ways of getting the other side of the information out there – even if their bias is as bad.

Intelligent people are learning to question everything that is considered news.  They know that human bias is going to creep into posting on the social networks as well as the major outlets, and some of that can be excused.

However, blatant disregard of the whole story and focusing only on the things the reporter wants to stress as being important – especially when much of what is not considering any other options - has created a distrust of the national news media we haven’t seen before.

There are many good reporters out there, men and women who strive to do their best to report in a neutral and fair way.  Unfortunately, few of them are in those major outlets.

Yep, Nita, I would put you in the positive category.  Didn’t always agree, but felt you were fair.

The owners of our social networking system ALSO have a great deal of control of what is shared by others.

After years of refusals, I finally joined Facebook about a year ago.  While I have heard from both sides that Facebook has deleted their posts, I have seen much from both sides of the election – and frankly, disbelieved much of it.

Their headlines were the first clue that the report was questionable – ‘This will put Hillary in prison,’ ‘This will destroy Trump’ and similar ‘headlines’ that promised the world and gave nothing – except for inaccurate information.

I quickly chose not to open anything that gave that kind of a headline.

But, Facebook and other networking sites could choose to sway people by NOT allowing anything that they themselves, personally, opposed and help provide an even greater wall between people.

It doesn’t take long to learn to be askance of information and demand – or research – other areas for information to determine what is true and what are lies that are being spread by others.

People, who have nothing better to do, tweet out their opinions or thoughts on things they know nothing about, are growing in numbers.  They re-tweet - or whatever format they are using – the hearsay from someone else that doesn’t know all the facts and then often add to the confusion with their own opinions.

It is up to us, to not be sucked into such idiocy and think opinions are proven facts – no matter the source. 

AND we need to teach our children to do the same.

Later, Art (-:

Sitting here this morning watching snow fall, drinking a cup of coffee and getting ready for daily devotionals.

It is coming down fast enough, and sticking so I got out our snow shovels out.  Not much of a wind, but it is coming from the north, which is unusual EXCEPT when we have the artic winds coming in.

The forecast is for 6-10 inches.  We may get it up here.  When we lived on 12^th we used to feel sorry for those that live past 14^th street – that, over the years, was the point where snow came down harder, thicker coverage and lasted longer.

Bird feeders are all full, although not many going to the seed feeders.  Looks like we are down to our 2-3 hummingbirds during the winter.  When I put the feeder out this morning, under the heat lamp, one of them came and sat for at least 5 or more minutes.

He would eat a bit and then just sit there looking up at the lamp, usually they look around for predators or another bird coming in to challenge them, but he didn’t.  It was clear he was enjoying the heat – and this time it is 24 degrees, it could and has gotten much colder.

I can remember my first winter in uniform.  Patrolling the streets on Graveyard, it was so cold the defroster couldn’t keep up and I would have to scrape the windows every few minutes.

I went by the Benjamin Franklin Savings and Loan building, they had a digital thermometer and I saw a minus 17 degrees, MINUS.

It may not have been entirely accurate because I haven’t seen it that cold since, below zero, yes, but not that low.  AND I can’t seem to locate a site that officially confirms – or denies – that temperature.

The Sarge pulled us in after 0300 when the bars had closed and the likelihood of family disturbances from husband coming home from the bar intoxicated was diminished.

Snow is coming down thick enough, now, that I can’t see the trees across the street, a couple hundred feet away.  Looks like we might just get that 6-10 inches.

I can only remember two years we had more than 3 feet.  Both years I was not able to shovel the sidewalk.

Poor Carla was expecting our youngest daughter, I came down with the flu and was hospitalized for several days.  During that time it started snowing and didn’t stop until it got over that 3 foot level.

Carla would come up and visit me and the nurses didn’t want to see her go home, they were concerned that she might have the child anytime and an accident would cause complications.

Her comment was, “I am not going to have the baby until Art can be in the delivery room with me.”

Three days after I was released, and still pretty weak, she had the baby, and yes, I was in the delivery room.

The NEXT year I was attending a training program in Monmouth with another sergeant.  We had a recruit that was starting her first week at the academy and she rode with us.

My oldest daughter, had agreed to watch the recruit’s cat, she lived right across the street from us.

We left Sunday afternoon.  It started snowing right after we left and didn’t stop until there was 3 feet of snow on the ground.

They closed the gorge.  On Saturday, the recruit stayed at the academy and the other sergeant and I went over Santiam Pass to Redmond and then north on Highway 97.  It was about 3 hours longer, but it was better than staying away from home until the gorge opened up several days later.

The recruit stayed at the academy the entire time.  My daughter had to deal with the cat all that time.  She could only let him out a few minutes each day.

The cat started losing hair.  We took him to the Vet and Wally diagnosed him as stressed and prescribed a half pill of cat female birth control pills morning and night.

If you haven’t tried to feed a cat a pill, you won’t entirely appreciate how much difficulty she had putting it down his throat; and she had scratches to prove it.

When the recruit came back to work we were glad to see her, but nothing compared to how much our daughter was glad to see her.

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Mathew 27:20-25 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.

²¹ The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.

²² Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.

²³ And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

²⁵ Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

Proof that just because the majority advocate something and force others to follow them, doesn’t mean they are right.

Mathew 10:21-22 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

²² And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

It isn’t easy, but we are told by God to stand for Him.  No matter what happens, He is there with us.

The world may demand we go in a direction we know is counter to God’s, when that happens, we go with God; no matter the consequences handed to us by the world.

Later, Art (-:

I am thankful for the men of my father’s generation that stood up and fought the enemy, especially as we remember Pearl Harbor and the attacks on in 75 years ago.  Because of these men and women, we are free today, even though many of those men did not come back.

Oregon has officially begun the winter phase of our four seasons, lots of snow in the mountain, freezing temperatures all over the state and hazardous driving conditions are either happening or will shortly.

I asked some friends from Prineville if they could remember any closing of the schools for snow days – none of us could, as a matter of fact we were pretty sure we didn’t have any.

One lady mentioned that the girls were required to wear dresses, not pants, and their legs were freezing.  I would imagine that rule has been changed.

When we moved to The Dalles we found that driving here was different than in Central Oregon in the winter.

In our neck of the woods, growing up, we had retreaded walnut tires from Les Schwab that got us through on the streets and roads with little problem.  Had use a bit more care, but not a real difficulty driving in the snow.  The snow is drier there, and while it can be slick, it isn’t real dangerous – as long as you didn’t hit black ice.

Up here, however, there is not only snow, but freezing rain and ice, not just black ice, but sheets of it.  Crossing a road with a slight grade in this weather is an adventure, doesn’t matter if driving or walking.

The first year we were here they closed the Gorge for a week.  I couldn’t believe it, what are these drivers, a bunch of wimps?

The Gorge, because it cuts through two mountain ranges and therefore maintains an altitude, along the river, of barely a hundred feet in most of the areas, is more susceptible to the warmer weather from the ocean AND the arctic weather, which pushes the warmer weather back to the ocean and the result is ice covered freeway.

In addition the winds in the Gorge during these storms can go into the 80 mph range.  Not a good combination.

The state sets road blocks on I-84 at Troutdale and, usually, Hood River (although we have had them here in The Dalles) and not allow any traffic to go through.  Although I did ‘badge’ my way through a couple of times, the last time I did it was the last time I was foolish enough to do it; lesson learned.... 

Wind hits every window in a vehicle with its whirl wind effect, it is easy to get turned around, and definitely easy to find yourself sliding all over – to allow cars on this treacherous road in those conditions if an invitation for many MANY accidents – it is safer for all concerned to have the road blocked.

There are ways around it, Highway 14 in Washington, which also follows along the river but doesn’t seem to get the same weather condition.  Then most of us just go over Mt. Hood and come back to Hood River, or go into Madras and then up the highway to The Dalles.

I have spent many hours of many days on these roads through the years, pushing people out of spots, investigating accidents, helping where I can and trying to explain to people who are from out of the area and don’t understand what winter driving conditions are in the Gorge – and why we won’t allow them to drive through it – especially truck drivers.

Now, I leave it to my compatriots in blue and brown uniforms and hunker down in a warm living room, reading a book, writing or watching television.  Much safer.

It is worth it though; Carla has a much longer growing season for her garden.

And, by the way, they DO close schools here.  We had a school superintendent from Anchorage, Alaska shortly after we moved here.

He didn’t believe in school closing for snow days – in Anchorage snow is not an excuse for missing anything. 

A couple of parents took him around to where the buses were going to have to travel to pick up the kids, over those icy slick roads.  He changed his policy – and it was a good idea.  

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John 11:39-44  Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

⁴⁰ Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

⁴¹ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

⁴² And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

⁴³ And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

⁴⁴ And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Why do I limit my God?

Why do I not believe He can do all things?

I know He can, so why do I have so much trouble to put those beliefs in action?

God has carried me through many struggles in my life.  None are huge, there is no point in comparison – each of us struggle and must deal with what is on our plate.

But Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, brought back to life those that were dead, calmed troubled seas and performed many other miracles.

Part of it, I know, is that I can see what I am going through, I can feel what it is doing to my mind and emotions.

God can seem to be so far away.

It is like the tyranny of the urgent.  We have our plans interrupted because something comes up that requires immediate attention.  Some of those things can be planned for, but many cannot and we are left with either doing what needs to be done right now, or making an evaluation and realize that they really aren’t all that important and go with our plan.

I allow too many things to interrupt my relationship with God.  My mind wanders as I pray and it is difficult focusing on those things I need to do in my prayer life, praising and worshiping God, listening to what He has to say, praying for others, reading my Bible and assimilating His Word into my life.

AND I am retired.  There is less on my plate now, I can set my own schedule without, for the most part, having to work with others, so why don’t I spend more time with Him?

As I do spend time with Him, as I do take the time to read and apply His Word to my life, I find that my mind is at ease and His life is clearer to me.

It is a mindset.  I can remember some of my busiest day, where I deliberately made sure that I had spent time with God, were the ones that God was continually with me.  He lifted me above the fracas and allowed me to see clearer what needed to be done.  Most of the time they were my most productive days.

While we can’t always be on a mountain top with God, unfortunately we have to deal with the world, we CAN remain in a constant state of communication and while we may not realize it at the time, He intervenes on our behalf and makes things more palatable for us.

Most of what we go through, if we allow Him to use it, can bring us closer to Him.  It changes us for the better, it may make us more compassionate, it may make us more insightful into other’s needs, it may soften us and make us more approachable to those who have need of our talents, it changes us.

I know that the God that raised Lazarus, is the same God that gave promises to us that He would be with us always, is the same God that died on the cross of Calvary, rose from the dead and is now at the right hand of God intervening for me.

It isn’t up to God to draw me closer to Him.  It is up to me to stay closer to Him.

It reminds me of the story of a couple of older people, they are driving along and the wife looks at her husband and says, “we used to sit so close together when we were driving – what happened?” 

The husband’s reply was, “I didn’t move.”

God doesn’t move, He is at the same place He was when He created this world, when Adam sinned, when He sent Christ to die for us, when we accepted that salvation on our knees with tears in our eyes – I need to move closer to Him, not the other way around.

Later, Art (-: