SISU

Sorry, no photos of funnel clouds from me. I was not there.

God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.

                                             Psalm 46:1-3 NIV

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a very unique place to live. The people are very unique. They are often called Yoopers. The majority of the Yoopers have SISU, a Finnish term for grit or courage. This summer Houghton County and areas surrounding was hit by some devastating storms and flooding. Roads, bridges, and even homes were totally wiped out. There was no getting in or out of some areas. To my knowledge they received no Federal Assistance. The people worked together to get their communities back together.

Last night, I saw pictures of funnel clouds almost touching the ground in both Baraga and Houghton Counties on Facebook. There were no warning sirens. There did not seem to be any panic. People got out of their vehicles or stepped outside their homes to take pictures. I heard of no one taking cover. The comments that were made were like: "We're good," "Don't worry," "Yup, we were watching it, too." LOL - that would be Yooper SISU: don't find cover; just stand on the porch and watch the tornados. Apparently they did not touch down because I haven't been able to find anything on the news that said they did so far this morning. In fact, I can't find anything on the news about them at all. 

I am not sure what causes people to stand on the porch and watch funnel clouds. I am not sure why I would; but, I am pretty sure I would be among those standing in the wind and rain to watch the weather. It would not be the first time. Maybe, it's not the wisest thing to do. But; then again, maybe, it's due to total faith in the fact that no matter what happens all who believe have eternal life. 

God is our refuge and strength and we will not fear. 

God's Peace be with you; may your day be blessed - Pr. J

His Peace In All Times

Taken from the back door

"The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace."
                       (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)

I just got off of the phone from talking with my husband, Howard. He is not a real happy camper this morning. He is on vacation at our home in Michigan. Our home in Michigan is at the mouth of a river leading into a bay. On top of the normal tides moving in and out because the bay is on Lake Superior; he has experienced a couple of seiches since yesterday. This morning, we video chatted and the water was up to the top of the deck at the back of the house. The dock is floating around and it is not a floating dock. He is going to have a mess to clean up after the water quits moving so much.

He is not a happy camper. But, like the tides that go in and out, so does just about every aspect of every one's lives. That is the way it is. All we can do is pray this wonderful prayer for one another. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord look upon you with face and grant you His peace.

Due to the storms there have been a lot of areas and homes that have been devastated (destroyed) in the past few weeks in the Upper Peninsula. We are fortunate on Huron Bay. The mess at our home is nothing more than a mess. It can be cleaned up with a bit of work.

May God grant you His peace!

God's peace - Pr. J

Rain and More Rain in the U.P.

Waiting for that Rainbow!

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” (Gen 9:12:16 NIV)

 

I am only a few days into my vacation and I am waiting on that rainbow. We arrived in the U.P. on Friday afternoon. There had been a storm in the morning so there was no Verizon service in most of the county. Howard could not remember where he put the password for the internet so there was no way to communicate with family to let them know we arrived safely. Within an hour of arriving at the house the power in half of the house went out. I found the password for the internet and was able to get online and after Howard ran a few extension cords from the part of the house that did have power he was able to watch Netflix and Amazon after we got unpacked. 

 

What a relief! We were thinking we might have to have the whole house rewired. On Saturday, we called the electric company and by the afternoon we had power again in the whole house. We managed to get the house in order on Saturday. It rained most of the day.

 

I woke up in the wee hours of Sunday morning to a flashing bright light. The lightning was flashing so hard and so fast it was. Without the internet, I also don't have the ability to make phone calls so I could not call the phone company to report the outage and I could not work on a blog. It was one of the rare days that I missed doing that over the years. There is no cell service at our home here in the U.P. so we connect through the internet. I don't know how Verizon has managed that; but, they have and it is great as long as we have wi-fi.

 

We arrived at the church expecting to hear either Pr. Jimalee Jones or Pr. Gunderson preaching. That did not happen, either. The storm was so bad between their home and Skanee that the roads were impassable. Pr. Peter Suomela (a member at Zion) had been called to do a quick pulpit supply. He did an outstanding job especially since he had no time to prepare. It was very good to see old friends and neighbors at worship.

 

Following worship we were going to head to the closest Wal-Mart to purchase a coffee maker (ours had sprung a leak over the winter) and a printer so that I could get some work done. We had to go to Marquette, MI as we could not go to the closest Wal-Mart in Houghton, MI. All roads in or out of Houghton and everything north of Houghton in the Keweenaw were closed. The storm during the night took out many of the roads. I believe the Upper Peninsula may now have more sink holes than Florida! Nah! Probably not. But, over 60 sink holes in one night is a bit much. I can't even begin to imagine how long it will take to clean up that mess. Roads were destroyed. Homes and businesses were destroyed. There are photos of the disaster at the WLUC-TV 6 Facebook page. 

It rained Sunday afternoon and evening; the power went out again for a little over an hour, again.

So, here we are on our fourth day at our home in Michigan. It is raining. There are no rainbows in site. This is beautiful country with wonderful neighbors and friends. But, I am waiting for that rainbow, even as I am reminded of one of the reasons I had decided it was time to move to Florida a couple of years ago. The summer before I left my driveway never dried out. Most of the summer was wet with cloudy, gloomy looking skies. I like the sunshine! I don't mind the rain. I even enjoy a thunderstorm now and then. But, I would also like the sun to shine and to make those beautiful rainbows every now and then, as well. I am sure I will seen one day before my vacation ends. They are a symbol of hope and promise. No matter how gloomy things appear there is always hope because we have God's promises.

There is always hope. May God lift up all who are suffering from the losses incurred due to the disaster in Houghton County. May their rainbows shine some light and hope on all of our lives.

God's Peace - Pr. J