Ice and Snow

To my friends the Millers down in Texas -- you left just in time.

Eastern Iowa was hard to find on the national weather map Saturday -- there was too much weather on top of it. The state was a radar blob of white and pink (white for snow and pink for ice) for about 36 hours. Depending on where you live, the mix was more snow than ice, or more ice than snow. Here in Cedar Rapids, it was ice. About an inch of ice fell on power lines and trees, snapping both. Early Sunday morning an estimated 200,000 utility customers in Eastern Iowa (that's probably about 1/6 of all homes) were without power.

That included the Hagerman house. Our power went out just is dinner was coming out of the oven Saturday night, about 6 p.m. We ate a romantic candlelight dinner (well, it was candlelight anyway) and played a game of Sorry! at the table. Then, off to bed early. We hit the sack about 9 p.m. with little else to do. Sunday morning brought more of the same -- no juice. But also, no snow. The predicted 8-12 inches of white stuff that was supposed to follow the ice never came. Instead, warm rain was falling, melting away what little snow was on the ground, and some of the ice, too. The cold temps and snow went north. Our power was restored around noon on Sunday. By then we were thankful that we were not pioneers on the plains in 1840.

I feel bad for those still without power, an estimated 20,000 in Cedar Rapids and many thousands more in rural Iowa. But I don't mind the storm itself. In a powerful way, its a reminder that we simply trust God to provide in all circumstances -- ice and all. As we worshipped on Sunday morning with the 50 that were able to make the drive to the church building, I relished being able to sing words like "It is well with my soul" and "Great is Thy faithfulness." Come hell or high water (or high ice), God is in control, and I belong to Him.