Snow, dental work, truth

The forecast was for one to two inches of snow. The actual will be over three inches. It really is beautiful to see; not so much fun to drive in, but beautiful to see. I ended up leaving for work about two hours later than usual. The roads were not bad but it was a slower drive than usual. The melting snow will soak in slowly and get deeper into the soil than rain would have, so it’s all good.


Mama is none too excited about it but by the time she has to get up and going it should be clearing up. Temperatures are above freezing and the precipitation is now all rain so the roads should be clearing but wet. The wind is still brutal. I have not heard a wind speed announced but the gusts last night were near forty miles per hour. With what I drove in this morning I imagine we are not too far from that. That is what makes the cold so unpleasant.

Mama goes to the dentist this morning. Neither of us is excited about that; her for the physical discomfort, me for the financial discomfort. It is one of those things that we just have to grin and bear. I have some little cavities, but nothing the scope of what Mama needs now. We are going to begin with a repair of an old filling and fill a new cavity. There are several other repairs on the docket for her but we are going to be forced to go slowly with all of them. Chase and Victoria also have some needs bringing the total to over $4000. Insurance will pay part, but since this dentist is out of network, our part will be about $2200. Ouch!

Mama and Victoria went to the library to get some books on dogs. I am told we have two appointments in Fritch on Saturday to look at dogs. The two of them seem determined to get another puppy – for the farm, you understand. The problem is that the dogs they are looking at range in price from $600 to $1200. That is not going to happen. If that much money it to be spent it will go toward animals we can raise to eat. After all, this is not the Philippines. Speaking of the Philippines…

At church last night we had a Philippino national preach. He was delightful. He related one instance of a funeral where he was asked to speak. Before it was his turn a local Deputy Major spoke and attempted to be inclusive of all the religious groups present. He related getting to Heaven to taking a trip to Manila, their capitol city, saying that just as there are many roads and many forms of transportation to get to Manila, there are many ways to get to Heaven.

This Baptist preacher, knowing he was next began to pray for wisdom. He got up and offered that there were indeed many ways to get to Manila, “but what if we keep traveling?” he asked. What if we go to America? Are there many ways to get there? Can you go by burro, or car? No there are only two ways to get to America; by plane or by boat. What if we keep traveling, let’s say, to the moon. There is only one way to get to the moon, by rocket ship, so too, there is only one way to get to Heaven, by the Lord Jesus Christ. He added that there is only one accurate map that will get us to Heaven, the Word of God. His speech was not applauded as was that of the Deputy Mayor, but he left the assembly a joyful man.

I wonder if I would have done the same.