Archive for December, 2007
Iceland… Diminishing!
December 13th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family
With a title like that, you’d think this would be about global warming.
WRONG… how about something a bit more real when it comes to peril to humanity… the ice storm here in Iceland northwest Missouri?
Yeah.
Day 3 brought us temperatures, yes, amazingly enough, above freezing! And sunshine!
Good for thawing out our ice-coated area, of course… but BAD for power outages.
Most people don’t realize it, but ice coming OFF power lines is usually as bad (if not worse) for causing outages than ice developing ON lines. It’s especially bad on the transmission system. What happens is basically this… ice loading on all wires on a power line stretches and sags the lines equally, so adequate spacing is maintained. When ice comes off the lines, it generally doesn’t come off all at the same time. Big chunks fall off… the lower lines spring back, and the wires contact each other, forcing breakers to trip on the line ends, knocking out power to complete substations (which often serve hundreds, even thousands of customers). When ice is widespread, this causes major issues for the system, as outages can occur all over. Thankfully, there’s generally not a lot of additional damage, but it does put people in the dark again, at least temporarily.
So that was my life today… watching the system, helping direct crews and restore power as ice-related outages spread across our system. Not necessarily physically hard work, but certainly hectic and draining.
As you might imagine, three days of ice has me feeling pretty worn out… not because it’s been bad at home due to lack of electricity (it hasn’t… we’ve been fortunate to keep it for the entirety of this)… not because we’ve had a busy household with friends staying with us (in fact, it’s been a majorly good time)… not even because we had a household full of college students from the Missouri Western Baptist Student Union tonight (we’re glad to be able to host them)… but simply because ice storms make for some stressful days of utility work, and I’m worn down. VERY worn down.
Anyway, yeah. Here’s hoping and praying we’ve seen the worst of this and that life can get back to normal for everyone soon. Snow is forecasted for tomorrow, and we just don’t know what that will bring.
Keep praying for the region!
(Sorry there’s no pictures today… I left in the dark for work, and returned after dark!)
Iceland, Continued…
December 12th, 2007 | 1 Comment | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
When I wrote yesterday, St. Joseph was experiencing the beginning of a severe ice storm. 24 hours later, the rain finally stopped (after dumping almost 2 inches of precipitation), and we were left with a nice coating of ice blanketing everything.
Obviously, this much ice is bad news for a town that’s been around as long as St. Joseph has… there are a lot of older trees that, with ice loading, are wreaking havoc on the electric power system here. Damage to the power system from ice, primarily due to tree branches, left roughly 90% of St. Joseph residents without electricity. I don’t know what the percentages are for the entire area, but it’s definitely a significant figure.
The good news in all of this? Somehow, we were one of the fortunate ones to have electricity still flowing to our home.
Needless to say, this is a great development. While I’m at work helping with this mess (I work for an electric utility in the area), I don’t have to worry about Nancy and the kids staying warm. Additionally, we’re able to share our home with friends, so they’re staying nice and warm as well. We’ve got seven kids ages five and under running around, and six adults. Talk about busy! It’s definitely good though… the kids are having a blast together, and once they’re in bed, we adults are having some good laughs as well. We’ll all remember this for a long time.
Anyway, a post about an ice storm just wouldn’t be complete without a couple pictures, so here’s a couple I shot yesterday morning, about halfway through the storm.
Welcome to Iceland… er, St. Joe.
December 11th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
Well, it’s just after midnight here in Iceland St. Joe, and the ice storm has been going strong for over four hours.
As you can see from the view out our front porch, it’s beautiful outside. Beautiful… unless you like electricity or have to travel.
Here’s hoping and praying we can keep power through the night. Given that I work for an electric utility, tomorrow may be a long day.
Save the Planet… Tax Babies
December 10th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » In the News...
Here’s a wonderful idea to help save the planet from the evils of global warming… let’s tax people who have kids for the “carbon footprint” their children will have! How about $5,000 up front, just for having a child, then an additional $800 a year afterwards?
Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s implement population controls to prevent further human greenhouse gas emissions. We could even give carbon credits to those who undergo sterilization procedures!
Sadly, I’m not making this stuff up, as a professor in Australia has proposed just these things. Check out the story here.
It Could be a Long Season… Episode 13.
December 9th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » KC Chiefs
In thinking back over today’s Chiefs game, it’s hard to find much to be upbeat about. They fell to 4-9 on the season, and unless something changes soon, they’re going to end up with their worst record since 1988. A ten loss result is almost assured; twelve doesn’t look out of the realm of possibility.
It’s a real shame for Tony Gonzalez. He continues to play better than any tight end in the game… on a team going nowhere. It’s a real testament to his professionalism and pride. Many guys wouldn’t give 100% as he does in this situation. Many guys evidently AREN’T.
Anyway, the ugliness continues. We’re playing solely to evaluate talent at this point… and for draft position.
Here’s hoping the rebuilding process only takes a year or so. None of us want to have to endure this for long.
Oh the Weather Outside is…
December 6th, 2007 | 2 Comments | Posted in » In the News..., My Life / Family
… delightful!
Here’s looking forward to snowmen, snow forts, snowball fights, and sledding with the kids.
I’ll admit, I’m no fan of ice (driving on it, mainly), but there’s something about snow that brings out the kid in me. Just ask Nancy!
Pondering Prayer… Part 3.
December 4th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies
Well, this series of posts seems to continue to stretch itself out further and further. It’s been almost two weeks since part 2. At this rate, I may still be writing on this topic next year at this time!
I don’t suppose that would be all that bad. Prayer is an integral part of the Christian life, and continual meditation and reflection upon it almost certainly helps in one’s walk with Christ.
The second of the Scripture passages I posted originally comes from Proverbs 15:29.
Proverbs 15:29
29The LORD is far from the wicked
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
This Scripture passage about prayer makes a lot of sense to me, taken at face value, from my own experience as a relatively normal person in my response to those who have wants or needs (note I did say, “relatively”).
What determines our response to a plea for help from someone?
Their standing with you?
Their relation to you?
How “deserving” they are of assistance?
If they’re a “good” person?
If we have pity for them?
Other factors?
To be perfectly honest, I think most of us go with #3… if they’re “deserving”. That’s probably a pretty natural response… We pass by the homeless, the beggars, the broken down travellers, the door-to-door salesmen… yes, even the telemarketers. We might have pity on them to the point we’ll acknowledge them… but to listen to their needs and respond?
It’s a rare thing for most of us.
Who do we respond to? Generally those whose needs or wants are right… whose needs or wants are meaningful… whose needs or wants are pleasing to us to meet.
Put simply, in parallel to the Scripture passage… if needs or wants are “righteous”… we respond, just as God does.
Here’s where this gets troubling though… when I think about my standing before God.
Am I righteous that he would hear my prayer?
Hardly.
Not of myself, at least.
Romans 3:10-18 describes our predicament:
10As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
In and of ourselves, outside of Christ, we have nothing of value to offer God. Our sin stains us with dark, disgusting, gunk that a holy, pure, and righteous God will have nothing to do with.
Why would he listen to us, much less respond? We wouldn’t.
Therein lies the rub.
We ARE righteous… at least once we have placed our faith in Christ.
Romans 3:22-24 explains:
22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
The very righteousness we need for God to hear our prayers comes from God Himself… through faith in Jesus.
Prayer is a gift from God: enabled by God, conveyed by God, heard by God, and answered by God.
Amazing.
Remind me again, why do some of us struggle with seeing prayer as mundane, pointless, or the like?
It’s clearly anything but.