Wednesday Christmas Eve Eve was a blustery day. Starting shortly after noon, there were light snow flurries along with whipping winds and dropping temps. When I woke up it was 45 degrees, by evening it was down to zero. That is a serious temperature drop. I did horse chores at 4PM and the wind was painful cold on my face. At that time I should have told the boys to come home and get home before dark. Mark wasn't concerned because we weren't supposed to get much snow. Since he wasn't worried about it, neither was I. Jake was at the shop with Keaton and Luke was at grandparents. It was dark and I was preparing supper. Karen called and asked if the boys were home yet, she said it was getting pretty bad. Luke had driven to the shop. Keaton left the shop and went into the ditch heading for his home. Luke was behind him trying to go home. Because he was stuck, Keaton was on the road walking to the shop trying to flag Luke down to stop. Luke didn't see him until he was right beside his window. Luke had to watch the edge of the ditch in order to see where he was driving. So many things could have went very wrong. We were thankful Keaton did not get farther down the road and get stuck, he may have been stranded somewhere far away from a house. The temps were so cold and the wind so bad it would not be possible or safe to leave the vehicle. Luke could have been the one to try to drive home and get stuck somewhere on the gravel and been stranded too. He didn't even have coveralls. He also could have hit Keaton with the wind and snow blowing white out conditions. We were so thankful the boys were all safely at the shop. I could hear Mark on the phone with the boys making plans and giving instructions to drive to Karen and Orrie's less than a mile away. I heard him talking about getting a rope in case they needed it to stay together and having bags over their heads so they don't freeze their faces in the wind. They were talking about taking the field instead of the ditch. My eyes were in awe thinking how crazy that all sounded. I kept repeating to Mark to make them stay at the shop. I was feeling angry that any of them would even consider driving. There are so many things that could go wrong. My mind was imagining the worst, them getting stuck, wandering off the path, getting lost because you get disoriented in white outs. I pictured them trying to walk to Karen's and getting too cold and not finding their way. I prayed and I prayed. The boys attempted to leave and didn't get past the shop when they realized how bad the conditions really were. It was a huge relief and answer to prayer. I wanted my boys safe. They pulled into the shop and stayed put for the night. I was so thankful, the Lord was keeping them safe. I knew they would be warm and safe in our big heated shop. They had quite the time at the shop eating Christmas goodies and cookies they found. They scrounged the cupboards to find and cook spaghetti noodles with kidney beans on top, then topped that with tortilla salad strips. The wind died down and snow stopped around 2Am when they pulled Keaton's truck out. They pulled it into the heated shop and each boy slept in his own truck as best they could. Luke slept in the recliner in the office with towels as blankets. Nobody slept well, they were cold and uncomfortable, but they were safe and indoors. At 8Am the next morning they were all home and ready to go to bed in their own beds. So thankful this story had a good ending! Winters in Iowa can be treacherous.
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