Aftermath

We have recovered (almost) fully from our ice storm here in Northern Arkansas. Almost every one has gotten power back at this point, but for many the wait was close to 2 weeks!!! It has been a mess, but also a blessing for many. I'll explain. Of course everyone, everywhere, is complaining about the economy, but due to the storm we had over 500 utility workers from out of state working in our town alone! And our town is TINY. These utility workers ate at local restaurants, stayed at the local motels, had flat tire after flat tire fixed at the local tire shop, supported our hardware store, etc. On top of that, many locals who were without power also had to eat out more often, and many of them opted to stay at a hotel or motel rather than at home because they didn't have power for nearly 2 weeks. To top it off, all the tree limbs that were broken everywhere gave many unemployed men work to do cleaning yards, business lots, etc. They are still working their tails off trying to get everything cleaned up. Our local utility workers have been working 7 days a week, and long hours every day, so they're making a lot of money in overtime too. And that's just our TOWN. There are many towns surrounding us that have had the same experience. So really, even though it was a mess and people didn't have power for a long time, God has really used this to bring financial relief to a lot of people who were hurting this time of year. Our friend owns the main motel in our town and he wasn't going to be able to cover his bills this month, until the storm hit. Now he's had a record January and it's looking like a record February too! Isn't that awesome?

Joel and I took a 4-wheeler ride to look at the broken trees and such in our area. Here's just a glimpse of one small section of forest that has fallen down. And I threw in a photo of our dog, Sadee, launching herself through waves we were making in my parent's creek. Silly girl.