Snowfall Record

When the local Bismarck TV weatherman says that we've had so much snow this month that we might as well get a little more and go for a new record, you know there's been a lot! And worse yet, winter only officially started last Sunday! But that's exactly what he said Monday night and by Tuesday morning, Bismarck had reached a new record for snowfall in December. Officially Bismarck (50 miles south of Underwood) has had over 24" of snow this month! Not only did this smash the old record by nearly 3" but we're likely to get another couple inches before the new year. And before you chalk this up to North Dakota always getting lots of snow, realize the previous record for December snowfall had stood for over 90 years (1916)!

I remarked to my wife the other day after shoveling for the nth number of days in a row that whenever I move to a colder climate, I seem to get one nice year before the "real" winter hits. My first year in the Chicago area (winter of '97-'98) was an El Nino year and I can only remember it snowing a couple times. Then this past winter (our first in ND) we had a mild winter (by North Dakota standards). It was cold but I don't think we had 24" of snow the whole winter (let alone in one month). Apparently my "honeymoon" period is over!

Sunday night Underwood has its annual Community Christmas Concert. About 20 members of the community formed a choir and the kids dance teams in town also performed. Afterward one of the local churches hosted a meal with the proceeds going to the McClean County Resource Center. It still amazes me to live in a place where a large portion of the community would gather together at the local public school for an event celebrating the "reason for the season." One whole side of the stands in the school gym were full and no doubt more would have attended had it not been so snowy and windy this weekend.

Saturday afternoon my wife and I were invited out to the senior center (age not grade) for their Christmas potluck. I had been meaning to check out the senior center as a number of the members of our congregation are actively involved there. Although we were the youngest people there by about 30 years, we had fun interacting with other members of the community and had plenty (some might say too much) to eat.

Please pray for the elders to be able to meet soon (the weather has forced us to cancel a couple of meetings now), for our Christmas Eve service tonight, for wisdom in leading the congregation and in us growing in love for the church and community. Merry Christmas!

By God's Grace, Jeff