I left the car running

For the first time ever, last Saturday I left the car running while I was in the grocery store and at the bank because it was near double digits below zero. Before you label me crazy, let me fill you in that this is a common practice in town. No one is worried about having their cars stolen. They are much more concerned about not getting their cars to re-start in the severe cold. Having now participated in this small town rite of passage, you know that we are adjusting to our new lives in North Dakota. I'm lobbying to get a remote starter before next winter.

The other "exciting" happening of the week was having to deal with a clogged sewer line. In our basement we have a large utility room in which is our sewer drain. Since it was clogged, it did not properly drain but instead seaped into the utility room. We spent most of the day mopping up while we waited on the local plumbers to arrive. They were able to roto-rooter the drain and it is now functioning properly again. Now that we know the signs, I hope we never have to deal with that again. Ah, the joys of living in a home instead of an apartment!

We had basketball games Monday and Tuesday night. JV won both their games but varsity lost both of theirs (though they played much better in the second half last night). Varsity has one more game on Saturday before the district tournament begins next weekend. The top four finishers in the tournament move on to the regional tournament. Our girls team finished second in the district and will have their first round game in the regional on Monday. I have enjoyed working with the kids and getting to know more people from the community but I will be glad when the season is finally over and I get my afternoons, evenings and weekends back!

On Sunday we continued in our series through Ezra and looked at the beginning of chapter seven, learing that God accomplishes His will through His Word. Ezra is a great model of what it looks like to rightly value Scripture. He studied it, obeyed it and taught it. If you'd like to listen to the sermon click here.

Please pray that I would continue to develop a love for the church and community and for Harmony that she'd find someone to help her out in the library.

By God's Grace, Jeff