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Land Slide covers the Freeway |
| Have you ever seen moving pictures of the side of a mountain sliding down in a big land slide? When snow is involved it is called an avalanche. Many times it happens so fast without warning and people are buried under many feet of snow. There are special trained dogs that help dig out the buried people. It is so important to get them out quickly or the weight of the snow and no oxygen can cause them to die. |
| On February 7 of 1996 we had a broken pipe in our Portland home and our neighbor called and told us. We hurried down to take care of problems. They had swept the water out. They were so kind and such a blessing to us for finding it and shutting off the water. We were preparing for a mission trip into Borneo. We were working hard collecting things and getting the printing done in Portland so it was a good excuse to go down and back from Othello. |
| It had been raining heavily and the snow was melting fast in the Columbia Gorge. The thawing snow added to the rain and sent so much water down the rocks toward the freeway that it could not all go inside the big drains. The dirt on the hillsides began to slide slowly as all the water was washing over it. |
 We
were trying to get from our home in Portland which had not sold yet, to
Othello where my husband worked. We came to a part of the freeway where
there were giant machines pumping the water off the road. The water was
coming faster than the pumps could work. The water was two feet deep. As
we slowly inched our way through the danger zone, we prayed for God to
keep the engine of the car from giving up. Our car was not designed to
swim. With growing concern we noticed how quickly the water on the freeway
was coming up the doors of our car. We moved steadily forward praying. |
  We
reached a higher point in the road and the danger was behind us. On the
radio we heard that right behind us a huge land slide had occurred. Giant
boulders larger than our car had rolled down the mountain, across the
freeway and kept going. Homes were washed down the cliffs or buried. The
freeway was closed for two to three weeks. Big equipment had to be used to
clear off the debris. |
 It
made me shiver to think what could have happened to us if God had not held
back those big boulders till we were past. We were praying for help to get
through but we did not know an even bigger danger lurked above us on the
slopes.
Before we even called out to Him, God had His angels at work to protect us. Is. 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Ps. 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
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| He knows what you need before you ask him; but he has made this your duty, and the duty of every one of us, to come to him and ask him in confidence for what we need. We must comply with the conditions laid down in his word, namely, "ASK."
Tell the dear Saviour just what you need. He that said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not," will not reject your prayer. But he will send his angels to guard you and protect you from the evil angels, and will make it easy for you to do right. Then it will be much easier than if you should try in your own strength. You may ever feel like this, I have asked God to help me, and he will do it. I will do right in his strength. I will not grieve the dear angels that God has appointed 56 to watch over me. I will never take a course to drive them from me; for if they should leave me I should then have evil angels around me to control my actions, and lead me to do wickedly, and grieve my parents. But we do not believe that good angels will leave you; because we believe you will do right, and encourage their watchful care. {AY 55.1} You are none too young to be good Christians, and have children's experience in the Christian life, and know that your sins are washed away in the blood of your Redeemer. Time is short, dear children, and we want you to love God, and be prepared to dwell with pure and good angels in the city of God. Nothing but goodness and purity, honesty and holiness, can enter heaven. The Lord knows you are young, and he will help you to do right, and give you grace to overcome every wrong, every evil. You may not obtain the entire victory at once; but persevere, keep trying. Say, I will do right, I will resist evil, and the Lord will help me. {AY 56.1} Appeal to the Youth by Ellen White |