I'm back from the "black hole of January"!! That is the only way I can describe what the last month has been. It surely was a month of tension, awe, fellowship, beauty, hardships, love and amazing Grace from our God. Even now, most of us are having difficulty sorting out all that happened and kept happening. It just seemed to go on and on. You would just get used to one weather condition and it would quickly change to something else and another disaster would strike. John, Jennifer and I spent a lot of time lugging her generator between our two houses to keep pipes from freezing. Man, those things are heavy! And we had ice under our feet to contend with plus the ice falling from wires and tree -"ice bombs"- and that is what they sounded like. Some unfortunate people got smashed car windshields when they hit. I've never heard Maine so noisy.

Jennifer's husband, Bruce went into the hospital Dec. 28, and had emergency surgery at 3:00 a.m. They found a ruptured intestine, loaded with diverticulosis, removed 18 inches of intestine, did a colostomy, and removed his spleen. Then a few day's later, because he had a high temperature, they had to operate again, and located infection on his liver, as a result of the original problem. Dr. Sears prescribed intravenous medication. He was in the intensive care unit until January 22 (through the days of the Ice Storm) then in a regular room until being discharged to Heritage for ten days of rehabilitation and medication. He has been there for 7 of the 10 days, been home on pass several times, and can't wait to be home for good. After the second operation he had water around his lungs, and they started to fill up. Dr. Wall said it was a good thing he had stopped smoking a year and a half ago or it would have been much worse. Then, can you believe it, his heart went out of kilter and they weren't sure if it would calm down or stop. We got that call at 8:30 p.m. and lived with that message all night. Dr. Wall was an absolute angel through all this, he kept Jen informed about everything and so did others on the case. He called every morning with a report and some other times when he needed permission to do internal work. I have never lived through such an experience.

I am still in awe of Jennifer's faith through all of this. When she went to prayer the night of Bruce's original operation, God told her "There will be miracle aftcr miracle and Bruce will come home." There were so many times it was hard to believe, but she was completely convinced. She made no apology for her Faith at the hospital, just kept telling them God told her Bruce would come home. I saw her hugging more than one nurse and telling them he was going to be OK. The way he looked the first two weeks sometimes made it hard to believe. He had a breathing tube for over two weeks, plus a drain in one lung, and he was on medication that kept him pretty well drugged. So believe me, he didn't look or act like our Bruce.

One of the miracles God was talking about is the change in Bruce. He says he knows God is real now, and witnesses to anyone who will listen. The night the doctor called about his heart, Jennifer said, "Thank you for calling, now I know how to pray tonight." She hung up the phone, told me the conversation, put her hand up in the air and said, "Thank you, Father God for giving Bruce a new heart tonight," and He did, both physically and spiritually. PTL!! I slept at her house most of the time Bruce was in the hospital so I got first hand her conversations on the phone. Her affirmative spirit was amazing. My one worry was her traveling back and forth to the hospital. You know John, he was on the ready all the time. He filled in every crack where he was needed and then some. He was our designated "angel of mercy" through it all. Jen and I wouldn't have made it without him.

Parallel to this experience is how our Church got anointed to respond to the storm and its needs. It started with the Youth at the Longstaffs doing some cooking to share, moving their operation to Church, and then it just spread like wildfire. Main Street had electric power back on first in town and maintained it most of the time, so we could cook (gas stove!) and provide shelter and food and comfort. People started bringing in food from their freezers so it could be used before it spoiled, then it just snowballed. We ended up providing lunches and dinners and coffee and comfort anytime. People just needed to see others and talk and laugh and cry. We served wonderful meals. Turkey dinners with all the fixings, Chicken Cordon Bleu, huge fruit jelled salads, good soups and chowders and tasty desserts. So many people brought in food we couldn't keep track - a lot of them we didn't even know. Food Bank and Camp Mechuwana opened their cupboards to us. Congregational Church made two huge delicious fish chowders and pans of brownies, plus letting one woman, who didn't have power at home, use their gas ovens to cook for us. Just one amazing story after another. So many people came in to work we couldn't find jobs for them all, but they hung around and helped anyway. I sort of ended up supervising the buffet table and keeping that going. I got tired after eight or so hours on my feet but I wanted and needed to be there. I give Priscilla and Alden Small and Caro Kaiser all the credit in the world. They look turns supervising the kitchen. When you didn't know what the next meal was going to be until after food came in each day, it wasn't easy but it sure was challenging! Sometimes they would have to switch menus halfway through their plans. We served around 2000 meals in all. Miracle!

This was a healing time in our Church. We needed that. Elizabeth Roberts is writing a story to go into our Cross Currents paper next month. (Note: That article is included in this collection.) Other churches in Maine and one outside of Maine have sent money to us to be used any way we want. Our utility bills will be high so we really appreciate their thoughtfulness, their caring and their love.

This is the first time I have been able to put into words what has happened here in Maine. It may be difficult to read, but the best I can do right now. We ended up having two Christmases and Bruce still has packages to open from the second one. Jennifer still has Christmas lights outside and will keep them up until Bruce gets home for good. (PS.: Christmas lights came down on Feb. 10, when Bruce came home.)