We survived the snow apocalypse. Yesterday, Mac snowplowed for 8 hours digging us out and helping others. Many times the snow prediction misses us. And then other times we get twice as much. We thought we were going to wake up to a fresh white blanket of snow on March 13, 2019. There was no snow in sight. Then within the hour, soft snow starting falling. Then the bomb cyclone began.

I was so worried every time Mac would go outside to check on things. Our generator was acting up. The electricity kept flickering. I would look out the window for him but visibility was zero. I would open the door and call his name. But the snow was blowing so hard there’s no way he could hear me. I wouldn’t hear from him for a couple of hours at a time.

Our neighbor who lives about 4 miles from us knocked on our door. He wanted to surprise us by plowing our driveway. His truck had slid off the driveway and was stuck. After Mac pulled him out, we told him to go home immediately! This was not a normal snowstorm.  

Mac decided to go to the barn to get on his tractor and do a snowplow run to stay ahead of the storm. His truck slid off the road and became stuck. So he came in and we watched as the storm developed on TV News11 Live updates.

We were hearing stories of hundreds of people stranded. A trooper was killed while he was helping a stranded person. Another car went out of control on the snow and hit him. Another person was climbing The Incline. It took a team of 18 first responders to rescue him. Our poodle, Monroe, was even scared to go outside. He would go to the door, but when he heard the wind and the snow hit his face, he turned around and came back in quickly. It was insanity outside!

Our neighbor’s wife called around 6:00 pm saying her husband wasn’t home yet.  She went out looking for him and got their vehicle stuck and had to walk back home in the blizzard. I said, “What?!!! He left our house at noontime, he should be home!!!” I called 911 for her. I worried nobody could get to our neighbor before dark. What if he ran off the road again and was knocked out?

At this same time, Mac was in his Jeep going to the barn to try to get the tractor out again. I didn’t know it but the Jeep got stuck and the 4wheeler was stuck in high drifts of snow. Mac was trudging through hip deep snow to get back home.  I went outside with Monroe to see if we could find Mac. We both sank hip deep!  I felt helpless not knowing what to do!

When Mac came back in the house, I told him what happened to our neighbor. Mac turned around and went right back out to go try to find him.  It was going to be dark in 30 minutes. The snow cyclone was relentless. Now I was worried about Mac leaving with darkness coming. My worry escalated to thinking of me being left all alone in the house in this storm while Mac may get stuck somewhere in the freezing dark forest. And I couldn’t even imagine what happened to our neighbor!

As Mac was preparing to leave, I called his wife back to tell her Mac was on the way to try to find her husband. She said with excitement: He just walked in the door!!!  In the whiteout, he had turned on the wrong forest road going back home.  His truck got stuck again. He started walking in the blizzard. He didn’t have on snow boots. He had no phone, water or food.

All of a sudden he realized he had turned on the wrong road! He backtracked walking and finally made it back to the main forest road. It took him 6 hours to walk home! He is blessed to be alive!

I never heard of a bomb cyclone before March 13^th.  I’m thankful it’s a new day!

#snowapocalypse, #bombogenesis, #bombcyclone, #bombcyclone2019

Recently, Mac & I were enjoying a beautiful day yesterday skiing all over Breckenridge mountain. All of a sudden things changed:

We were on Peak 7 heading to a TexMex place for lunch skiing a Blue Run called Phoenix. I was gathering some speed where it was straight down. I was going to make an S turn to slow down. My downhill ski caught my other ski.

My feet flew up in the air. I turned a flip and landed on the back of my helmet & neck. My legs were hurting because one leg was turned backwards over the other. So I sat up to try to take my skis off to straighten my legs back out.

I couldn’t unbuckle my skis from the pain in my neck. So I laid back down crying in pain. Mac was already at the ski lift and didn’t know what happened wondering where I was.

A skier (angel from Houston) stopped to help me. She got my skis off & called 911. Then she found my phone in my coat pocket to call Mac. My whole body couldn’t stop shaking. I couldn’t move my head from the excruciating pain.

I lay in the snow for 45 mins while paramedics assessed my situation. Mac talked to the paramedic in charge and she said for him to stay put because they would be coming down that way. The ski patrol put skis up in an “X” to warn people to stay away.

I asked if it was going to hurt my head riding down mountain on the back of a sled. She said, Ma’am: We’re going to do the best we can to keep you comfortable but you are on the side of a mountain up in the alpines. :)

Mac said there were 3 “red coats paramedics” and 7 “yellow coats safety patrol” bringing me down the mountain on a sled wrapped up like a burrito. Then Mac got on one of the snowmobiles with one of the safety patrol to ride the rest of the way down the mountain with us. They took me to a medical facility, thoroughly checked me out and then said it was imperative I be taken to the hospital in the next town, Frisco.

During the ambulance ride the pain was so severe that they tried to get IV in for pain meds but I was dehydrated and the needle refused to go in. So they gave me nasal spray of Fentanyl. I know why people get addicted to that now. It took the pain away immediately & I quit shaking. At hospital they gave me more pain meds.

I called the ER nurse, Houdini, as she was able to get my 2 shirts off without moving my head. Doc assessed I didn’t break my neck because my legs & arms could move and weren’t tingling. But they said I may have fractures in my neck or scapula. I lay flat in a neck collar until the cat scan was read. There were emergencies all around us in the ER. Intercom saying things like “Trauma Team stat to Room 4.” I was thankful they weren’t having to come to my room.

Cat scan revealed no concussion and no broke bones! Cervical muscle strain; I can deal with that! Prescribed pain meds and Doc said I will be good to travel tomorrow to Austin for the conference. I believe I would not be here today if I had not had my helmet on.

I can’t sing praises enough to the Breck Staff, Ambulance Paramedics & Summit Medical Center. They were all amazing and I thank God for each one of them that attended to me. Thank you!!!

Mac said after we knew I was going to be ok: Life is never boring with you, Mary. 

Mac gave me this verse as we keep thanking God: “But you, God, shield me on all sides. You ground my feet. You lift my head high.” (Psalm 3:3)

We heard Steven Furtick say: The enemy realizes our potential.  He tempts us not with a chain.  He tempts us with a little choice. That choice turns into a habit, which becomes a chain that we drag around for years. 

The enemy laughs that we took the bait. We believed the lie that God was withholding something good from us. We took the reins and decided to guide our lives in our own way. We blamed God instead of Satan for the hurt inflicted on us. We were in denial of the hurt we put on others and on ourselves.

The pain, shame and guilt keep coming back. The evil one schemes to kill, steal and destroy our testimony that God doesn’t waste a hurt.

BUT, we don’t have to stay bound to those heavy depressing chains! When we listen, believe and obey Jesus’ teachings, the truth will set us free!  (John 8:36)

We serve a chain-breaking God!

We are no longer a slave to fear! 

We chain ourselves to grace, truth and love now!

God views us as holy in His sight, forgiven and free!

Our names are engraved on the palm of His hand! 

He will never let us go!

When you say yes to God, He will use the broken chains of your past—your testimony—to set others free!

“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”  Revelation 12:11

In Celebrate Recovery, we are building a legacy of no-fear, faith-filled, hope-bound Forever Family.

You can go to www.celebraterecovery.com to find a group near you to find hope and healing.

Want bold confidence before God? 

Requires more than just words.

Requires actions.

Requires us to stop listening to the debilitating self-criticism we think about ourselves. For God knows more about us than we do and He still loves us more than we can even imagine.  I John 3:18-20

Here’s a way to look at your time here on earth in one day:

If you’re age is 15, the time is 10:25 a.m.

Age 20, time is 11:34.

Age 25, time is 12:42 p.m.

Age 30, time is 1:51.

Age 35, time is 3:00.

Age 40, time is 4:08.

Age 45, time is 5:15.

Age 50, time is 6:25.

Age 55, time is 7:24.

Age 60, time is 8:42.

Age 65, the time is 9:51.

Age 70, time is 11 p.m.

No one is promised tomorrow. Let’s make today count for good.

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  Psalm 90:12

We’ve got 35″ of snow in the past 11 days. I’m thankful for electricity, running water, a fireplace, stove, fridge and a roof over our head, along with vehicles to get to the grocery store in 10 minutes.

There’s part of a chimney on a tiny slab made of concrete & rocks along with a chicken coop on our property that was built 100 years ago. I can’t even imagine how they survived here in these weather conditions back then. They had to be some tough mountain folks.

It’s nice sitting by the fire sipping on homemade soup. Everything is quiet. Everything is still. Everything looks fresh and clean outside. There will be a mud season coming up when the snow melts. But for now, I am slowing down a bit to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

After I wrote that I saw Mac drive by in his truck. His truck started sliding off the road down toward the lake. So now he’s inside too and he’s leaving his truck where it is until it stops snowing and he can dig it out. :)

We watched the 1st year beginning concert for 3 schools’ elementary band and orchestra . Conductor Johnathan Weedman teaches the same thing to the students at each school. The concert was the first time all 3 schools, 115 children performed together. It was amazing hearing children, who have never all played together before, make sweet music together. 

Mr. Weedman said the common goal he first teaches them to focus on: Starting together. Staying together. Ending together.

He shared how these lessons can also apply in everyday life as they grow up. Our grandson was listening intently and nodding his head affirming what his teacher was saying. Sure made us smile. 

Just like in learning an instrument and playing with others this can work in our daily lives too.

Start together: Seize the opportunity. Try new things. Work together as a team.

Stay together: You’re going to have challenges along the way. Don’t give up.

End together: By working hard and staying the course, you will be part of bringing beauty and enjoyment to yourself and others. #music #orchestra #band #worktogetherplaytogether #nevergiveup   #staythecourse #celebraterecovery

I love looking at Christmas lights! Makes me think of God’s promise in Isaiah 60:20, “Your sun with never set again and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.”

It was 15 degrees outside. Instead of “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” we drove through a Winter Wonderland with the windows down. Heat turned up on high. Hallmark’s SiriusXM Christmas radio station blasting out our windows. Merry Christmas!#everlastinglight
#coloradochristmas, #broadmoor,#caveofthewinds

I love thinking about the amazing miracles that God knitted together in my womb: unique brilliant children of God: Heath, Cherry, and Callie. They all have amazing different strengths; while at the same time have things in common.

They have creative minds and are motivated to try new things making their lives better and the lives of the people who are around them.

They are teaching our grandchildren about whom God is.

They are warm, caring and generous people.

We see them continually learning and growing more into the image of God.

We pray God gives them the desires of their hearts as they follow Him forward into 2019.

#strong #brave #kind #futurekingdom #onekingdom #hope

While watching President & Patriot George H.W. Bush’s funeral today many memories came back to me.

In the 1960’s, my father, Alton Hardy Howard, would come home from work dressed in a sharp suit.  He would pull into our driveway in his black and white Oldsmobile. Janice and I would run to the car with excitement as he would place us up on the big hood of the car. We took turns jumping off into his arms. He would shout out loud, “Happy days are here again, yay!!!” We squealed with delight.

On summer days we got to stay up late. The Star Spangled Banner played over our black and white tv while the American flag waved proudly telling us good night. If you left your TV on, you heard loud static for the rest of the night.  There was no such thing as a remote, so somebody would have to get up to turn the TV off.

Parents had no concern of kids watching unwholesome shows during the middle of the night. The world was quiet while we were tucked in our beds having sweet dreams. In my mind, the world was a safe gentle and good place.

I knew nothing of World War II and that my dad was a navigator on a bomber plane.  The year I was born in 1957, the U.S. Treasury started printing our money with the motto, “In God We Trust.”  This same year the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first satellite, which alarmed the world that they could attack anybody at a moment’s notice. So our country started building our own nuclear warheads. But I knew none of this.

My dad built a nuclear shelter underground in our back yard.  There were bunk beds, canned food and water stacked against the walls. But nobody ever talked about it. I just thought it was a cool playhouse underground. I loved to climb up the huge pine trees in our back yard to look out over my world.

When I was 6 years old on Nov. 22, 1963, my dad came home early from work. I lay on the couch with him watching President Kennedy’s limousine with a line of black cars surrounding him slowing driving down the streets of downtown Dallas, Texas. The beautiful First Lady fascinated me with her fancy pink outfit. She was carrying a bouquet of red roses waving at the crowds.

Then the sound of gunshots echoed around the world. We watched in disbelief and horror. Two days later we watched the President’s flag draped coffin carried out of the White House.

Those days shook my world for the first time. I hadn’t known about death yet. I didn’t know the world wasn’t always a safe place.

Things changed for me on that day in first grade. I remember crying every day after that not wanting to go to school the rest of first grade that year. I remember my teacher sternly telling me, “If you’re going to cry, just lay your head down on your desk and don’t get up until you are through crying.” So I kept my head down a lot that year. I never talked to anybody about being afraid. I guess I just didn’t understand how to express what I was feeling.

Then on April 4, 1968, when I was in 6^th grade, I heard Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. I didn’t understand the racial strife going on. The church we attended always welcomed colors of all people groups. I was taught we would be in Heaven together so we must love all people while on this earth too. I remember in shock when the KKK burned crosses in front of our church. That didn’t stop our church from loving all people though.

Today I pray for peace on earth. I use to be afraid over many things. Today, I choose to live fearless.  No matter what happens in the here and now on this earth, God has replaced my fears with His spirit of power and love. I choose daily to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.

Our prayers are lifting up the Bush family today.

“Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up. All you who wait on the Lord.” Psalm 31:24