"Because you have made the LORD... your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you...
For He shall give His angels charge over you
to keep you in all your ways....
Because he has set his love upon Me,
therefore I will deliver him;
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver Him... and show him My salvation" Psalm 91
The weekend before Christmas, a severe ice storm swept thru and left us in the cold & dark – for 46.5 hrs!
(Sat eve til Mon eve)
The trees heavily laden with ice broke on hydro lines causing widespread power outages and un-traversable roads
above is the path beside our house - couldn't get thru!
this one below is sideways
A power outage in the winter is no picnic - we are so dependant we are on hydroelectricity!
It was a good exercise in empathy as it kept us thinking of our brothers & sisters in Ukraine who have to survive whole long winters like that! Wow! We are so spoiled here!
Our Heavenly Father is so good to us and thru this time showed us His care and protection (as in Psalm 91 below) providing in so many little ways so that it never became unbearable!
Sunday it was just around freezing and the sun came out during the day to cheer & dazzle us with the beauty all around us
In the evening when roads were somewhat navigate-able, Maurice & Rachel invited us for warmth & hot soup (tho their area suffered much damage to the trees lining the streets - and they lost power just as Dad & Mom arrived! -thankfully it did come back on after a couple hrs).
On Monday a neighbour who warmed our lunch soup on their gas stove! And later Ralph & Sharon had us join them for a Christmas feast! Driving home that evening however, the car lost all power! – but the Lord sent His angels to push us safely the last 10 km back home – just to the beginning of our driveway! And then when we got into the house, it was warm and the lights were working!– just in time as the temps dipped to -16C overnight and stayed well below freezing for the next couple days! And all the rest of the family and our friends were cared for as well. Praise the Lord!
It was really beautiful with the sun shining thru the lacy glass branches!
Photos can’t really capture the sparkling, translucent beauty!
(another sideways- of the side of our house)
The
next day, Christmas Eve, after charging the car battery, Dad drove to the
garage and again lost power while driving - just blocks from the garage! This time the Lord sent help via a kind man
who pushed the car off the road and gave Dad a ride to the garage where he
called CAA. Once the car was Amin’s, Chris
picked Dad up and going thru Brampton decided stop at R&S. Providentially, Ralph was home from work for
the rest of the week and so could lend Dad his car. And so we celebrated Christmas Eve together at home in warmth & safety in the midst of the icy winter wonderland - all that much more grateful for the many gifts our Loving Father showers on us - not forgetting wheels, heat & light!
The Light of the World is Jesus!
Christmas day, after a Christmas worship service, the 3 of us joined Christine & Maurice's family.
Kenny & his cousins (Ralph's) spent most of the afternoon skating on the frozen fields so the rest of us had a nice quiet time talking ….
Great to be able to catch up a little with Lizzi & Mark who were home from school for the Christmas break
“But
when the fullness of time had come,
God
sent forth His Son,
born
of a woman, born under the law
to
redeem those who were under the law
that
we might receive adoption as sons....
and
God sent forth the Spirit of His Son
into
your hearts crying out “Abba, Father!”
(Gal 4:4-6)
