Nate and Cori, weather, internet, Brittany

Saturday afternoon, Cori and Nate were in Shreveport, LA, traveling back to Pace, FL when their vehicle broke down. They had stopped for lunch and when they got back in the vehicle it would not start – and the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. Nate called around to a couple auto parts stores and in one of those calls found a store that would send someone out to diagnose the issue. The issue turned out to be the alternator. It had gone on the fritz and fried the battery. While they were getting the parts to fix the car, Nate mentioned that he had the tools in the back of the vehicle but it would take a lot of digging to get to them. Somewhere in all of this there happened to be a mechanic in the store who came out with the parts, repaired the vehicle and sent them on their way; all within a little more than an hour and for less than $200. When Nate asked the mechanic what he should pay him, the mechanic told him, “Whatever the Lord lays on your heart.” And that’s not all. While they were heading down the road after repairs their realtor called to tell them that they had a full-price offer on the house. The buyer wants to close by the first week of February. Praise the Lord! That fits with the timeframe they were needing to get an RV before heading north for meetings they have scheduled in March and April. Pray that the sale goes through as promised. It would be a huge relief, a huge blessing and a huge answer to prayer.

The temperatures are supposed to be well above normal for the next several days as a southern front rolls over us. That is a pleasant change from the teens and single digits we have been having the last four nights. The severe cold does not affect us too much other than getting water to the animals in its liquid state. One of the instrument techs in New Jersey used to say, “You know, a funny thing happens to water when the temperature gets down to thirty-two degrees.” Freezing was a constant issue for us in our instrumentation at the plant there. Here, Mama has to take the waterers from the coop every evening and put them in the dog building which is being heated for the puppies and Kira. This keeps them from freezing solid overnight. Then, every morning she sets them back out for the chickens to get a drink. For two of the last four days, the weather was so cold that they had to get a drink pretty quickly because the temperature never got above freezing. For the goats and pigs, we have to haul gallons of water from the house to give them each morning and evening.  Mostly we have to pour the water onto the ice block that was in the pans they normally drink from. They were ready for the water each time we got it to them. Normally, they drink quite a bit throughout the day and we have water available to them throughout the day. Over the weekend, they had to get it while they could. Everyone survived but it was lot of work for Mama. Three inches of rain is predicted for late this week – some of it in the form of sleet – but that is still days away. We will enjoy the respite.

Saturday, Mama and I went to the Cricket store to find out about using my phone as a Hot Spot – since I cancelled the internet service at the house. I should have looked into that instead of using the internet service. The total cost is an additional $10 per month. I had to apologize to Mama for the almost $800 I wasted trying HughesNet – six months’ service and the penalty to close the account. But, hindsight is almost always 20/20. For bigger web projects, I will have to go someplace where I can access better internet service but for the things I need to accomplish at home, this will work well enough to get us by. At the very least, it is so much faster that the service I was paying for that it is almost a pleasure to have it. Almost.

Brittany called Mama this morning to tell her that during the ultrasound this morning, the doctor found two heartbeats. She is carrying twins. The supposition is that they are identical twins but I am not sure how that determination was made. What I do know is that it is an answer to prayer – a big prayer; a long, steady prayer. God did not have to answer that prayer. Just for Brittany to get pregnant was a miracle all on its own. But God did answer our prayer. Now Brittany and Andrew are having twins; a miracle within a miracle. We are praying that the Air Force will allow her and Andrew to transfer stateside by April when he begins training for his new assignment. Mama is praying for the finances to travel to England and make the trip back with Brittany who should be three to four months along depending on the timing. Continue to pray for Brittany because what was a high risk pregnancy to begin with is now elevated on that risk scale. 

God is good.