On Thursday, January 17, it went from bad to worse, or from ugly to beautiful. I, personally, am a glass half full gal, and prefer to think it got pretty REALLY fast. We had had so much rain, I was seriously wondering if we should build an ark. Our creek flooded, washing away the gate that keeps our neighbor's cattle from coming into our yard. The chicken coop had puddles in it, and the dogs STUNK! So, on Thursday, I took this picture at 1:50 PM from the front porch.
I went out to run some errands and booked it back home to find this at 3:30 PM. One of my errands was to pick the dogs up from the groomers! Bad timing, Aimee!
Then by 5 PM our creek got the highest we have ever seen it! Crazy! We got 12 inches of snow in 4 hours! CRAZY I tell you!
That night, I was on the computer and saw my friend from college, Sarina, post about how she was stuck on the interstate and how the snow had forced it to shut down. Then she said she hadn't moved in HOURS and the next post said she was at a truck stop. I had posted the above 3 pictures on Facebook and she commented that it looked like where she was. I asked her where she was...she was only about 20 miles from us! This may not seem to remarkable for those of you reading this, but Sarina and her family live in FLORIDA! I immediately gave her my home #, told her to call me if she wanted to come here, and went to bed. Not 15 minutes later, the home phone rings at 11:30 PM and it's my long lost friend, Sarina! She and her three beautiful daughters were on their way to Charleston, WV to winterize their camper and got stuck in this mess (see picture below).
Sarina took this picture from her truck on interstate 77 North in Bland, Va. I gave her directions to our home in Rural Retreat, and she turned around and booked it out of there. She was in a truck stop planning on spending the night there because all the hotels had been booked due to the weather. Holy Moley! I don't know about you, but I would have been TERRRIFIED! I'm so glad I saw her FB posts--see how social media can save your life? Ha! So, an hour after speaking to her on the phone and after not seeing her for 12 years, in pulls Sarina and her precious family. It was so exciting to see her again! We all settled down, and went to bed. The next day, she was ready to hit the road again, but the roads were still too treacherous. So, they stayed over until Saturday morning. It was WONDERFUL! Sarina is a force to be reckoned with, and so full of confidence and love. She homeschools her girls, and I saw first hand what a remarkable job she has done. They were so polite, so funny and very mature (but not in a secular-creepy way). Her 10 year old was so well spoken that I had to remind myself that she was only 10! Her other 2 daughters were hilarious, and Pyper and Raegan enjoyed our unexpected company. Sarina's girls got to play in the snow which was a novelty for them. I got to have some really great conversations with Sarina, about homeschooling, parenting, the importance of having Christian friends, holding people accountable for their actions and reflecting on our time at Lee University together. Sarina and I went to Ecuador on a medical missions trip back in 1998 with a small group of students. What would have made this past weekend even better? Is if our friends Becky (now Sarina's sister in law!) and Sarah could have been snowed in with us! I was just so thankful for God sending Sarina when I really needed her. I had really been struggling with a lot of the issues we discussed and Sarina gave me the encouragement I needed to move forward with the plans Shannon and I have made. Seeing her was an unexpected surprise, but God knew it would happen all along. I was sad to see her leave Saturday morning, but so happy to have re-connected with an old friend.
Sarina in warmer weather this summer with her girls. I was lazy that weekend and didn't take any pics of her and the girls. I hope she forgives me for stealing these...
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