It’s cold outside today, but after seeing what those poor folks over in Kamchatka are having to endure, I guess we here in the Ozarks should be thankful. There are news reports (with video) about a major snowstorm over there and it’s spooky to see how much snow they got. There are drifts that reach the tops of what look like 5-story buildings. People are digging cars out from what look to be 10-15 foot high snowbanks! Some of the more daring youngsters are filmed jumping from 4 or 5 story windows into snow piles drifted up against the buildings and they completely disappear into snowdrifts. Somehow they crawl out, presumably to do it again, but I don’t think the thrill would be worth the effort to dig out for me.

Back here in the Ozarks, I took my pups, Little Britches and Number One, out to play on the iced-over pond and they had a blast. Cold doesn’t seem to bother them at all, even though they’re mostly house dogs.

These two doggies are pups from my late old girl, Dusty. They are six-years-old now and I had to suffer the heartbreak of losing their mother (and her brother, Chewy) last September. My regular readers will remember a couple of posts during that depressing time. I sort of made a little pet cemetery in which they are buried along with the ashes of some earlier dogs we’ve had to part with.

Now I just have these two villains and they are a handful.

We’re hanging together here on the old farm in the Ozarks, a world away from the darkness that seems to be overtaking the world. So far, we’re little affected by the world’s troubles, but like the shadows of Mordor, the evils of the enemy will surely get here too. We take refuge in the promises of the Lord, so when the time comes that the darkness does get here, we are prepared to face whatever the enemy throws at us. Jesus is a mighty fortress in times of despair and if you haven’t learned of Him yet, you have no idea how much you need to. Things are getting bad and Jesus is the only Way to emerge victorious over the malevolence Satan has in store for the world. [John 14:6]: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Y’all enjoy the rest of the winter as much as you can.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father see us through the dark times ahead.

MK