BLIZZARD? (From Dairy Queen?) UH- DEFINITELY NOT!

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’  and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

Job 37:6

It was November, 1950.....Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  My family, which consisted of mom, dad, and 5 children, still lived in the small, 3 room house in the little Southern Ohio town called Bainbridge.  No running water, heated with coal and wood, and cooked with the same.

My oldest brother and his family had come for Thanksgiving Day and was to spend the entire weekend with us.  Their family consisted of my oldest brother, Eddie, his wife, Hazel and three children. All totaled there were 12 people in that small home.

Looking back I can't remember how this was even possible. I do remember there were two mattresses on each of the two full sized beds.  A small daybed in one side of the kitchen where my one brother slept. He was the oldest of the five of us who still lived at home.  Mom would drag a  mattress off of each bed, find room somewhere on the small living room floor where 4 or maybe 5 of us kids would sleep. The smallest ones would sleep in two easy chairs (our name for them back then) pushed together....a sort of crib bed if you will.  This was our sleeping arrangement. Somehow we made it work.  We had done it many times before.  We  kids thought it was all a blast, or great time, I guess I should say.

As I said, it was the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  No TV or real weather reports to keep us informed of incoming bad weather. Well.....we were hit by the biggest snow storm....Blizzard, actually.....that little town had ever know to my knowledge. If researched I might be proven wrong, but in my defense, I was only 10 years old.   It snowed and snowed I think for two or three days, the wind blew constantly in such a fierce way that it seeped in all cracks and crevases of that little old home.  I was never so cold in my short life!!!

Thankfully, the old coal shed which was attached to our home had a good supply of wood and coal that was supposed to last us through the Winter.  Well, I know we must have used up much more of the fuel than we should have during this blizzard. Food cooking on the kitchen stove constantly helped keep it somewhat warmer in the house. For that many people mom always had a huge pot of soup or something of that type going constantly.

We thought this terrible storm would never end. When it did, the snow was so deep that all traffic on the main highway (Route 50 between Chillicothe, OH. and Hillsboro, OH.) was completely impassable for several days. There were none of the big snow removal machines we have today. So, there was no way to even walk to town.  It was several days (I don't remember just how many) until any kind of snow removal vehicle was able to break through and make at least one lane for traffic.  My brother, Marvin, who still lived at home, braved a walk to town to get some much needed supplies for mom and Hazel to be able to continue cooking for this many people. The snow was so deep my brother could not reach the top where the snow removal vehicle had gone through. He was probably about 16-18 years old at that time, so he was pretty tall.

Looking back I can't remember just how we were able to get water for that many people, either. I suppose mom melted snow for most necessary jobs. We lived beside a gas station as we were the last house in town. On the other side of the gas station was a small park that had one picnic table and an old fashioned pump where we had to go to get our drinking/cooking water.  I don't remember if, or when any of us were able to break through the snow to get the drinking water.

Mom and dad lived through the great depression, so they knew how to be resourceful. From our large garden each summer mom would always have canned and preserved jar after jar of every kind of vegetable, fruit from our trees, and berries we would pick during the hot summer and fall season. Mom was constantly canning and preserving all summer long it seemed. So we had plenty of food...just not much flour, coffee, sugar and that sort of thing.  But, somehow we were all fed and had warmth such as it was.

The youngest child at that time was my baby sister, Faith, who was born in May of that year.  (six months old)  The rest of us ranged in age from  adults on down to the baby.  What a time we had!

We kids made up every game imaginable. We had to.....we did not have toys such as kids have today.  When I think of all of that, it was such a learning time for me. It just proves how little we can actually do without, and we knew no different. And, I remember being so happy!

Another thing I remember was how we loved gathering around in the evening and listening to the stories my dad and mom would tell of their growing up years in Kentucky. They would sing little old songs....ditties, they called them.....and we would laugh and laugh. I remember some of those stories and songs even today, and my kids and grandkids like to hear me tell them.  (I think?!)

At one point when the work and supper things were done, we would all sit around any place we could find a spot, listen to the stories, and sing and sing!  My brother, Marvin was a singer and self-taught guitar player, and my sister in law, Hazel was such a good singer. I thought they should be on the Grand Old Opry. (but I was small and just thought they were great - which actually they were pretty good as I found out in later years)

There are so many details of how our surviving the great blizzard of 1950 happened...so much more I could tell! It was one of the memories I will never forget.  Hard....YES!! It had to be for the grown ups, especially my mom, but we kids thought it was great fun....even though we couldn't go out for days until the snow had melted significantly.

Thinking back on it, I can now see how our faithful God's mercy took care of not only our family, but many families who might not have had even as much as we had.  Were we all serving the Lord at this time?  I can only speak for my family, and I do know that we were not all trusting in Him and living for, and serving Him. As for me, I do remember it was right after that when I began going to church on Sundays and to youth groups, etc..  I am not claiming the blizzard was the reason for me going to church.  I do think just remembering how we had enough fuel for heat, food, and even room to house two pretty large families in such a small space, was a great lesson for me to think back on, and to be thankful! We had not prepared for this major storm, but our God had prepared us when we didn't even know it or give Him credit for all our provisions and care.

I can now think of many times He has done that for me throughout my lifetime, and in many ways.  He also knew at that time just which ones of us would go on to serve Him with the many gifts He had bestowed on us....the  gifts of singing and hospitality, teaching others about Him, and depending on Him totally and completely every minute of every day.

He not only knew each of us before we were born, but knew exactly what we would be doing every day of our lives.  And, He knows the very day we will depart from this earth. So, yes, He knew our two families would be together and safe during this severe storm.  He had plans for each and everyone of our lives, and carried them through to completion.

And He still does that for us even today.   What a mighty God we serve!