An NC Ice-storm

(This picture has nothing to do with the ice-storm. It was one I took a few days before.)

North Carolina can be a very strange state, weather-wise. One day we will have 70* beautiful, sunny weather and the next we will be getting snow, sleet, ice and temperatures well below freezing! Last week we had weather like that. It was one of the worse ice storms we'd had in a long time. Huge trees were uprooted by the heavy ice clinging to their already budding branches, falling on what ever happened to be in their path: power lines, houses, barns. We were blessed to get power after 3 days. For many, it wasn't until much later. The morning of the ice, I woke up and looked out my window and gasped! The trees were so beautiful! It was like a fairyland. But so deadly. As the day wore on, the snapping and crashing sounds continued and worsened. It wasn't just one tree that had collapsed to the ground, it was several. But why stay inside when you could be out in the winter wonderland, dodging falling limbs and getting soaked by the drizzling rain? And so we all went out to access the damage. The creek, a usually calm, slightly more than trickling thing, was now rising. It would overflow its banks in a few short hours. Strong, old Leyland Cypress's were toppled like dominoes. Branches were down everywhere. Dad, on his way to work, had to pull heavy trees out of the road with his truck so he could pass by. So much damage. So many huge trees down. The storm was so powerful. And yet God is way more powerful and He was the one who planned this storm even from the beginning of time. He knew where each tree would fall.

Our road before we were trapped.

The creek before it got its highest.

The huge and once beautiful maple that fell.

My house.

The damage seen from the kitchen window.

See! Its supposed to be SPRING!!!

After we got trapped in our house. Notice there is no power-line up.

(If you want to see what the creek usually looks like, you can go to this post. The girls were sitting on the log to the right.)

The sun decided to come out at the end of the day.

Melting.

A gorgeous sunset!

This is a star I found in the oak that fell across the road.

We were so happy to see these guys! 

Raising the power-lines!

The power is on! Now we don't have to eat pop-tarts!

This is along the same creek, just farther down. Do you see how far the water went out?!

Yep.... That's us... trespassing..

The storm is over.

Stone Mountain

Here are some pictures of our recent trip to Stone Mountain. It was a gorgeous day and it was wonderful to be out in it!

Pinto Bean's Piano Playing

This is a song Elisabeth (aka Pinto Bean) made up.... It is for Hannah (aka Peanut Butter.) :)

A Day of History

Yesterday we went to my grandfather's birth-place and several other locations where he grew up. 

Below is where the house that he was born in sat. Now it hosts three aging cars.

Across the street from there is the house his family moved into soon after he was born. This location had a store directly beside it where his father sold anything from gas to groceries.

Just beyond the white house is the elementary school
 that he walked to when he got old enough to go to school.

This is one of the many wild flowers that covered the grave-site of his house. :)

This is the store that now occupies the place behind the old store. In other words, the old store was much closer to the road, with only enough room for a small car to pull into between the hand-pumped gas tank and the road. Granddad said there were only a few cars that passed by each day, but it was enough for it to be worth keeping the gas tank. His family only lived here until the Great Depression, when they lost everything.

Where the old store sat.

After this we went to the Mayo river, where Granddad's father would bring the kids in the summer to cool off. It was amazingly beautiful!

The rock they used to dive off of.

So much nasty graffiti!

Beautiful Elisabeth.

I saw this in the woods and it made me wonder what had happened to Derek DePeau. It is sad. After looking it up, all I could find was that he had died suddenly.

This is the only beach most people in the area ever went to in those days. It's different, yet could it be better?

More wildflowers.

Then we went to see Priddy's General Store, established 1888. They are still open and have live music on Saturdays.

Then we went to the church that my Great-grandfather helped found.

They still had the stained glass inscription in the window.

Great-grandfather was originally buried in a different graveyard in 1930. But when his wife died five years later and was buried here, his brothers dug him up and moved him beside his wife. :)

After that we had lunch/dinner at a country place called the Dan River Family Restaurant. They had THE best hamburgers around, no kidding! And their country fries where Amazing!

All in all, It was a wonderful day!

P.S. This is Saturday's sunset.

Comparisons

School is back, which means so is Bible class! Here is my first paper of the year!

Comparisons between Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22

     Light, perfect creations, no more seas, rivers flowing, the tree of life. There are many comparisons between Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22 and in this paper I would like to show you some of them.

     The first comparison that I see is God created light in Genesis 1:3-5: "Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day." Here we see that even though He created light, He did not keep it light at all times. He also made it stay dark during the night. But in Revelations we see something totally different: "The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there) (Revelation 21:23-25)", and "There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:5)." There is still light, but it is an unending light. In this new earth there will be no need of sun, moon, or stars because God, in His awesome power, will be its light.

     The second comparison is that in both cases God created a perfect world. "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good (Genesis 1:31)", and "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4).” The only difference in the end is that the first Adam messed up that first perfect creation by disobeying God and bringing sin into the world. In Revelation, because the second Adam, Jesus, made atonement for our sins, the second creation will not be able to have any sin in it, because those who do not believe in Jesus and the work he did for them will not be allowed there. Thus, the second creation will stay perfect forever.

     Another interesting comparison is that there is no more sea in Revelations. "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea (Revelation 21:1)." One commentator (from the IVP New Testament Commentary Series) explained it this way: "His [John's] perception that there was no longer any sea is simply another way of saying that in the new creation there is no more death." Since the sea is so full of dead things, it had to be destroyed as well (according to this commentator) because God made all things new.

     My fourth comparison shows us that there was a river flowing through the Garden of Eden (Gen.) and a river flowing from the throne of God (Rev.). "Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads (Genesis 2:10)", and "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelations 22:1)." It appears that the river in Eden was for the purpose of watering the garden and, I suppose, the people living in it. It fed the physical aspects of creation. But the river in the New Jerusalem is the "pure river of water of life, clear as crystal." I think it shows us that Jesus is that pure and living water. He is the One that gives us life if we believe in His work on the cross.

     My final comparison is that there was a "tree of life" in both the Garden of Eden and the New Jerusalem: "And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9)," and "In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations (Revelations 22:2) Matthew Henry's commentary says the first tree of life "was chiefly intended to be a sign and seal to Adam, assuring him of the continuance of life and happiness, even to immortality and everlasting bliss, through the grace and favor of his Maker, upon condition of his perseverance in this state of innocency and obedience. Of this he might eat and live." After the fall, Adam and Eve were not allowed to eat of this tree. The second tree of life is always bearing fruit and is fed by the river of pure water. Those who have believed in Jesus and His work have eaten of that tree and will live forever with their Father.