[Uucf-bible] report from Oklahoma

[RevRonRobinson at aol.com]

Hi all. A very quick report from the UUCF offices and Oklahoma. Theological  
Reflections will come later :). 
 
First prayers to all of you in other parts of the nation who have been or  
will be, it seems, getting hit with wintry weather. 
 
While power is still off to our home and many others in Turley, it has come  
back on at "a third place" community center which our Living Room Church runs  
and where the UUCF offices are located (knock on wood as the second storm is  
coming down now). We were just about to open it as a shelter last Monday 
morning  when it looked like we might have escaped the brunt of the ice storm 
power  outage, but then the power went off here and the rest of our area then too. 
 
So we are now setting up the community center as a warming station/shelter  
for others like my family and neighbors who are still without power and for the 
 power workers. We have a library, donation clothing room, cable tv, free  
internet center, wifi, coffee area, and bathroom (but unfortunately no bath and  
shower as we had in our previous smaller space). 
 
My parents house and most of my extended family here got power on to their  
homes last night. As some know my mother is on hospice and bedfast and I have  
been spending much time helping out there and in the surrounding area. The  
hospice workers have been a blessing. When the trees and power lines had blocked 
 all car access in and out to my parents house, they got as close as they 
could  and walked the rest of the way. I am fortunate to have one long and 
winding  road in and out of our place (to go a half mile from my house to "a third 
place"  for example takes me five miles of driving). All things just take a 
little  longer, but the gas station and grocery store in Turley now have power 
again,  and so far we have been spared the deaths from fire and accidents that 
have hit  other areas of Tulsa and the state. Also blessed at home to have a 
wood burning  fireplace so we have been able to build fires at night and sleep 
on pallets in  the living room; my daughter and now her birds have been staying 
at a friend's  house with power across town. It's been a two-dog night here 
also. 
 
The workers are getting closer and we are all hopeful of getting power back  
on at our homes in the coming days. I remember fondly last Sunday afternoon  
after preaching about UU Christianity in Beaumont Texas, eating outside in near 
 90 degree weather and watching sailboats in Houston heading out and coming 
in,  and then catching an earlier flight than intended, the last one out it 
turned  out to be, to get back to Turley and the ice that had already begun to 
knock out  power. 
 
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and patience. I am now getting back to  
email and UUCF work while the community center shelter is up and running (made 
a  deposit the old fashioned way; thanks to so many for your answering of our 
 annual Christmas appeal and for your renewals of membership; keep them 
coming;  if you aren't already a member and/or haven't received the appeal letter 
from  President Anita Farber-Robertson, you will get all the info you need from 
the  website or contact me.) and I have been able to get the updated Good 
News  mailing list on time to the mailing house in Massachusetts where they had  
planned to start sending out the Christmas Good News issue this weekend. From  
east to west you should begin receiving it soon and through the holidays. 
Also  we will continue to update the existing website at _www.uuchristian.org_ 
(http://www.uuchristian.org)  as power holds out,so  please check it out too. 
 
More soon, and blessing from where we understand anew the adventure in  
Advent.

 
Ron Robinson



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