“For to the snow he says,
‘Fall on the earth’…”
Job 37:6

(Originally sent out via email this past Monday, 12/14, but I forgot to come over here and post it! )

I’m no stranger to Michigan winters having grown up here (although does anyone else think we used to get a lot more snow 30-40 years ago?) and I’m no stranger to driving in the snow. I’ve lived in Kalamazoo with the lake effect snow, visited my brother at college at the top of the Upper Peninsula, and come up north plenty of times in the winter. However it is also true that for the last 15 years I’ve lived in SE lower Michigan and in Indiana for three years before that. So living in the up north weather is new. And what would update emails be without some mention of the adjustment to the winter weather?!

This past Saturday we got the first big snowstorm of the season which dropped 12 inches on us in a day. It was quite the day to be out on the roads, as you may know if you had reason to be in any of the snowy areas! We were brave enough to have two of us driving to Oscoda (an hour away) and back, and to have one of us driving up from Hillsdale.

Mary Emma had a ballet lesson scheduled in Oscoda and, being December, I knew there wasn’t going to be another great Saturday to reschedule it. Plus I figured we live up north now, so if I cancel something every time it snows then we’ll always be cancelling. So off we went at 9am in our 4-wheel drive truck. I was very thankful for that 4-wheel drive! Her lesson was long, so we didn’t leave Oscoda until 2:30, and while Oscoda only had wind and rain during all that time, Fairview (and the roads to Fairview) had steady snow the whole time. But we made it safely, and were even blessed to follow a snow plow during one stretch of the drive when the roads were particularly bad. Ironically, the only trouble we had during the drive was after returning home. We needed to go into main camp to pick something up, and since we live across the highway we figured we would do that on our way home before returning to our house. As we drove in the snow covered camp road we noticed low power lines and even some fallen trees under the weight of the snow. One tree was across most of the road, but I was able to go around it – again thankful for that 4-wheel drive! Another tree was across the road but I was able to take a different road to get where I needed to go. But then after completing our errand, on our way back out the main camp road, there was a new fallen tree across the road that hadn’t been there on the way in. There was no going around, and no other road out! I briefly considered playing car limbo with the fallen tree but decided I didn’t want to risk damaging our vehicle. So after all of that driving in bad weather, the place we got stuck was in camp! We only had a short wait as one of the seasonal staff guys went and got a chainsaw and took care of it. I was thankful he happened to be there when it fell and when I came up to it a minute later.

Grace was also driving that day, heading home from Hillsdale. Luckily the weather for most of her drive was only rain. She didn’t hit the snow until about the time she got off the highway. Her hour drive the rest of the way also included following a snow plow for part of the distance. Pretty neat how we both had that provision of safety for part of our drive. Her trip was even complete with someone who waved and cheered for her as she went through Mio. Only up north in Michigan do you get a guy on a bike in a snowstorm who cheers as the little red VW bug drives by! 

We were thankful to have all arrived home safely that evening and we are greatly enjoying the beauty of God’s creation as it is now covered in white!

Rachel, for the Bennetts