The girls in Christmas dresses in front of a decorated tree.
My Christmas gift to Joanne progresses. I've been disrupted by grading, finals, more grading, crisis after crisis, confession, ice storms (more below), and generally everything else, but I'm trying to have it ready for her by Christmas. The cabinets below will, at some point, be stained the same glossy cherry color as the top cupboard. At least the counter tops are done.
The girls had Christmas tea and cookies to warm up and to enjoy the season. It's been very cold here.
Here is a story for you:
This past Sunday, things didn't go well. I was getting ready for bishopric meeting at about 6:45 am and my phone rang. My executive secretary was calling to tell me he had slid on black ice into his neighbor's yard, and he was going back home to wait for it to melt -- he'd see me at 9:30 for sacrament meeting.
I finished getting ready and my second counselor called to say he'd slid into the KMart parking lot on black ice and wasn't coming to church or going back home until it melted. I went outside, slid around a little on my front walk, and decided that if I was careful, I would be able to make it to church. The ward clerk called and told me that he had fallen on the ice the day before and broke his foot. He was trying to drive to Bishopric meeting and couldn't work the clutch very well, slid on black ice into a ditch and blew a tire.
The whole world was covered in ice. I made it down the hill and out of the neighborhood OK. Then I slid around on the road toward the church, so I turned around and went a different way. I was sliding down a hill pretty badly so I decided if I was going down, I would go down on my terms. I slid my truck into a paint store parking lot and left it there. I called my first counselor, Jim, to see where he was at. He was stuck and trying to come around to where I was.
There was a 12 car pile up that closed both lanes of I-70 in Washington. A four car pile up had closed one of the main roads into the church. Another 10 car pile up was blocking most of US-19, a major highway for members of our ward who live north of the building. Cars were sliding into guard rails and each other on every road in more than a half dozen counties in western PA.
Jim made it to where I was. We watched as a few people wrecked. We sat in his van with the heater on and had bishopric meeting. Our cell phones rang constantly. The ward mission leader called and said he couldn't make it to the church for his correlation meeting. I told him to cancel it, and asked if he'd help me get the word out that we were canceling the "early" meetings. I did not say that we weren't canceling church. I did not say this because I am dumb.
The ward mission leader called the Elder's Quorum president and told him church was canceled and to start a phone tree. Then he called the High Priest group leader and told him the same thing. It went viral fast! Within 10 minutes my cell phone (and Jim's) lit up -- sometimes I was receiving three and four phone calls simultaneously. People wanted to know if church was really canceled. I told them no, and they said oh, cuz I just called nine people and told them it was.
The sacrament meeting speakers called. They would not be making it in. The relief society president called, she had slid into her neighbor's yard and then fallen on the ice, in her dress, in the middle of the street, and had to scoot on her butt to the edge of the street before she could stand up. She wasn't coming either. The young women's president called. They were blocked by the pile up on US-19. They weren't coming. (Oh yeah, she's married to the gospel doctrine teacher).
Jim and I, at about 9 am, slid his van into the parking lot at the church. I almost fell walking up to the building. I called Joanne and told her to stay home. No one was there. Jim and I threw salt. Lots of salt. About 9:25, the ward mission leader made it. About 9:35, the ward clerk made it with his wife. The teacher's quorum president called -- he wasn't going to make it with the bread for the sacrament. Four families made it by about 10 AM.
With 37 people, we decided to hold a brief sacrament meeting, do tithing settlement for everyone who was there, and then go home. Jim had some crackers (with blueberry bits) and one mom had a slice of bread for her baby, so we had sacrament. We had a pianist. I was the speaker. (I did a good job). We were all done and all went home on mostly thawed but still somewhat treacherous roads, at about noon.
I didn't see the executive secretary at church on Sunday. That was OK.
That is the end of the story.
Now that's commitment!!!
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