Ice Storm

We were hit hard this weekend with over an inch and a half of ice! We lost power Sunday morning sometime after 9:15 (we left for church and it was on, came home and it was off). We had church service by candleabra light and in our coats and gloves! We have sustained tree damage as everyone has. It's sad--we are so happy to have trees and now to see them broken and damaged is just sad. We lost two big branches off a huge tree along our driveway---thankfully they missed our house, but there's a lot of shade gone for this summer. We camped in our living room with out mattresses--the boys thought that was great! My parents offered their old generator (they went through this in January of this year) and we took them up on it. It was nice to have some light and watch a little TV, especially the news to hear what's going on. We used the generator in moderation--mostly to bring down the fridge and to get a dose of TV. We kept warm by our kerosene heater b/c our fireplace is out of commission. (We determined Saturday that it will need to be repaired by professionals.....the one time we really need to use it!!) Leggett & Platt was out of power so Nathan was home on MOnday which was nice. Carthage was the only place we saw that had power the whole time. Parts of Joplin were out here and there. We went looking for extra Kerosene, as the supply we had was quickly dwindeling and that was scarce. We ended up at ATWOODS (a farm supply/hardware store) and Nathan was among several who were escorted by flashlight through the store with an employee to find their purchase. All transactions were written down, payments taken and as they rec'd power, they would go through. He paid way too much for the kerosene, but we didn't know how much longer we'd need it. Our power was restored Tuesday evening around 5ish. It was nice to be back in our rooms in our beds. I read a bible verse today--I opened my bible and it was on Psalm 46--God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.....Be still and know that I am God..... I really thought that was timely, we just went through something that to us, was a little devastating. We were very close to having a tree fall on our house on both sides and yet, the Lord was with us the whole time. He felt the pain we felt for losing the trees, he knew the frustration of no heat, no power. In the midst of all this darkness and cold, we felt his warmth and his light. I will be posting pictures--these are all I could get to upload today. I took LOTS of pictures of our house and our neighborhood. What a start to winter....and technically, it's not even winter!! (I'll post captions here--as I haven't figured out how to get them to post right. The first pic is our house on Sunday--the brunt of the storm. #2 Nathan cutting the big branches from our favorite big tree in order for us to get out of the driveway #3 the ice on our christmas lights #4 our side/backyard--this is early Sunday--it looks a lot worse now--as you see in pic 6 #5 the West side of our house--a tree is bending over so much it was resting on our house and we were fearful it would collapse on it #6 the side/back yard on Tuesday #7 family pic as we camped out)