Tag Archives: Weather

Where Does Our Hope Lie? (re-post)

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In spite of the gloomy weather, the impending crowning of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the prospect of tomorrow’s New Testament test, I’m feeling upbeat. You know why? Because none of this caught God off guard. He’s not thinking, “Uh oh! What do I do now?” What allows me to be filled with joy in this world of shifting sand is the constancy of the Creator who is ever faithful and ever true to His words that He’s so generously recorded for us in the Bible. Instead of looking at the waves and the wind, I need to focus on the steady arm of our Heavenly Father and the marvelous work done by His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.

What pessimism those who don’t have an all powerful, all good God must have! Where lies their hope? In themselves? I know I frequently let myself down. In humanity? One look at the many genocides and wars of the 20th century would cloud your outlook at any hope of an utopian society. In money? One tumultuous day on the stock market or one thief could take that all away. In a loved one? They may be here today, and gone tomorrow.

No, these things provide little realistic hope that tomorrow will be better than today, or that today will even be better than yesterday. Instead, let me join with Habakkuk and say,

“Though the earthly things I counted on do not come to pass,
Though my money and resources are taken away,
Though the people around me fail me,
And though the political future looks dim,
“Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And make me walk on my high places.”
-Habakkuk 3:18-19 NASU

Thank you for allowing me to candidly speak from my heart.

Originally posted 11/8/2006

I Survived

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Well, Irene turned out to be fairly easy on us here in Raleigh. We only go her outer edge. In fact, if I had been just 10 or 20 miles further west, I would have seen significantly less, if anything at all.

Power stayed on at my apartment, so I didn’t get to take advantage of my emergency supplies:

But I still got a good bit of reading done, while watching the hurricane coverage.

I actually enjoyed the weather Irene brought. All day Saturday as she was pounding us, it was in the 70s. I opened my windows wide–until the wind shifted and started blowing the rain in. Still, I was able to keep one or two windows open all day.

Though I avoided power loss at home, the church is another story. I volunteer at our church’s food pantry on Saturday mornings, and when I went in to do my shift, found that the church wasn’t at full power. I don’t quite understand how it works, but somehow our church was at 1/3 power. What that means: no A/C. Made for a lot of improvising on Sunday, but everything worked out.

While the winds here were fairly mild as far as hurricanes go, we did get occasional gusts up into the 40 mph range. At one point, these winds were whipping around the corner of my apartment building and knocked over one of my tomato plants:

Not bad at all. I don’t think it’s an accident when a storm like Irene weakens just before it makes land (remember Katrina did the same thing). I think that we can only attribute that to the mercy of God.

Ready or Not, Here She Comes

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Even if you don’t live on the US East Coast, you’ve probably heard that Hurricane Irene is heading our way. As I write this post (Thursday afternoon) it appears like it’ll make landfall here in North Carolina as it skirts the Eastern coast.

What does that mean for us in Raleigh? Rain, for sure, unless it unexpectedly heads way east. Probably a couple of inches. Wind gusts too—something this city is absolutely not built for.

As these things go, it’s still possible for Irene to hit us more head on. In which case, we’ll get more rain and stronger winds.

This may be my closest encounter to a hurricane to date. I’ve always been more of a tornado girl, you know? I think we’ve had a couple of tropical depressions coming through here, but nothing as big as Irene is.

Whatever comes, I’m ready. I always keep 4 gallons of water in my fridge. My emergency supply of water doubles as a money saving technique, as a full fridge costs less to keep cool. I also have an impossibly lot of non-perishable food that could easily feed for a month.

But more than water and food, I’ve got the essential covered: I have a great book light with lots of  extra batteries. I have a flashlight, too, but I have a feeling the book light will be used more.

Because if the power goes out, I’m totally turning this into a readathon. What else would I do without electricity?

Updates to come via Twitter. Yes, I’ll be tweeting with the power out (assuming the cell tower is in working order). I’ll try to keep my phone usage to a minimum to save battery, but I can always recharge in the car if needed, right?

Photo Credit: Hurricane Irene 8/24/2011 by NASA Goddard

FQF: Gifts, Wind, and Socks

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1.  If you had to purchase all your friends’ gifts at one store for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Does Amazon count? Because that’s pretty much where I buy the bulk of my gifts. If I had to pick a brick and mortar store, I guess I’d choose Target…at least it’s my favorite place to buy stuff for myself.

2.  What is more difficult for you: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when they are telling you how they feel?

Looking into someone’s eyes when they’re talking to me. Because I don’t know what they’re going to say, but I (usually) know what I’m going to say to someone else.

3. Not counting in the midst of a storm, where’s the windiest place you’ve been?

Definitely where I grew up: Wichita, Kansas.  It’s pretty much always windy there, and is like the 7th windiest city in the United States.  I remember watching outdoor scenes in movies growing up and thinking how fake they were because they wouldn’t have wind.  I didn’t realize that in many places, wind is abnormal and not an everyday thing.

Now, any time it’s windy, it reminds me of home.

4.  In what way is today better than yesterday?

I’m wearing socks that match my outfit. Yesterday I accidentally wore white socks with brown pants and shoes, and it bugged me all day.

5.  Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

Yes, but probably not because I blog, but because I’ve graduated and all that.  Though reading book blogs has made my TBR list huge.

Regrets, Music and Friends

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Do you like rainy days or snowy winter days more?

Snowy days if I get to stay indoors.  If I have to be out in it, I like the rain.  Actually, being out in the rain often makes me laugh-out-loud happy; I don’t know why.

Tell me about something you really regret?

Joining the masses in being mean to classmates in middle school.  I don’t even think it occurred to me that the rumors I heard and spread probably weren’t true.

Tell me about your favorite music?

My favorite singer is Collin Raye as I love his voice.  My favorite band is Maroon 5 (I’m surprised my copy of “Songs about Jane” still works), though I wish their lyrics on their latest CD were cleaner.  I love the goofy play-on-words lyrics to Barenaked Ladies’ songs.  I tend to like pop-y stuff and have a recent obsession with the music of Disney stars Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.  My favorite worship music is Sovereign Grace’s “Sons and Daughters” CD.

What is something or someone you miss the most from childhood?

Being a part of a close family…doing things together and having people around to talk to.  Not that I don’t love my independence now, but I miss that.

Are you the kind of person that you would want to have as a friend?

Absolutely not.  I tend not to like people like myself (and they tend not to like me).  We can be acquaintances, but will likely never be good friends.

Snow Day

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Oh my, this weekend was exactly what I needed after a crazy 3 months of travel, emotional highs and lows, sickness, and more work than I felt like I could handle at the time.

Start of the weekend: Friday was a good-busy day at work with an encouraging visit from a big boss and full of “snow day” excitement. That really doesn’t go away when you grow up, does it? Oh yeah, and did I mention, I got a raise? After work the day got better as I got to go HOME. As much as I love the people in my small group, I was craving time away from people.

Saturday we woke up to a blanket of snow, and the cold stuff still falling (actually, a lot of sleet later in the day). I do love snow…as long as it stays outside and I stay in. Still haven’t touched the stuff (though I’m going to have to make a run out to my car to get another can of Diet Dr Pepper this morning). Spent the day doing a little laundry and a lot of reading. Started The Help…so good!

Sunday church was cancelled and the city was just starting to wake up from the snow.  Five inches of snow may seem like nothing to others, but that’s a lot here in the South when we don’t have the capabilities to do much with it.  Another day of reading The Help, with a short break to watch Hairspray with the roommate.

And then today, the party continues.  Of course, I can’t quite neglect work like I have the last two days, but I really just need to make a few calls to cancel our appointments and handle any new emails/voice mails that come in.  All which can be handled here without leaving my comfy reading chair.

I will be going back to work tomorrow, possibly.  Though honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they cancel school again (I don’t work in a school, but that’s how we determine if we’re open or closed for taxes).  Even if I have to go in to work, it’ll be at noon at our yet non-busy site.  Not bad!  When this is all over, I’ll be ready to be around people again.

Little Bits

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It’s weird having gone three weekdays without a word on the blog.  I just don’t have the energy to say anything and not much to say.  I’m looking forward to a slow weekend to rest from people.

I’ve slept about 9 hours every night this week, and I’m still exhausted.  I don’t think it’s from lack of sleep at this point, just an over-stimulus from people.  Weddings, traveling, and tax season are all full of people…a lot for this introvert.

We’re expected to get 5-7 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow.  I really hope it happens, because I want an excuse to never leave home.  Nobody is scheduling tax appointments for later this afternoon, just in case.

Tax season is going well.  As in the past, I’m loving it, even though it leaves me exhausted.

I hope you all have an excellent weekend…I hope to be back to myself come Monday!