Montana The Heart Beat Of The West

There is cold and then there is Montana COLD.  

We drove just ahead of the arctic vortex blizzard. We got to our hotel around 12:30 am. We got our welcome goodies and found our room.  We quickly got into bed.  As I’m about to fall asleep, Kristi says that the heater isn’t putting out any heat.  I got up and checked the thermostat, it said heat and was blowing.  I told her it might be a heat pump and with it being so cold that it might take a while to warm up.  We were both exhausted and fell asleep quickly.  

I got a little cold but with me and Brayden in the bed we stayed somewhat comfortable.  Kristi and the girls on the other hand, froze.  But we were so tired that it didn’t matter.

The next morning as we were eating breakfast, we let the front desk know that before they have someone else stay in our room, they need to get the heater checked.  They were so sorry that we had to freeze all night. We told them, we were so tired and had the kiddos already asleep that we didn’t tell the front desk earlier.  As we finished up, they came over and told us that the manager was going to reimburse us for the night.  We were very grateful for their help.  Every step we took, the Lord gave us what we needed to take the next.

I ran outside to clear the snow off the van and warm it up.  As I ran out the door, there was a thermometer, it said, -17 degrees.  I checked my phone and it said the same with a wind chill of -38 degrees.   If you had any skin exposed, it hurt in moments.  Why Montana? Why?

We get to the capitol and do our thing. Kristi and the kiddos go inside out of the -11 degrees with -33 windchill. We parked close to the building and I warmed in the van.  I planned to do the ring of fire prayer and then warm up before we decree.  So I took off.  As I pray, I take photos of things that I feel lead to.  Usually I take several around the grounds and inside.  In the few seconds of me taking my glove off to take a picture and put it back on, my hand absolutely froze!  I finish the prayer in about 45 minutes.  I was a popsicle.

I sat in the van for about 20 minutes dethawing waiting for Kristi and the kiddos to come out.  They run to the van to hop in and warm up.  I drive over to the Liberty Bell replica across the street from the capitol building.  We park in the “no parking” right in front of the bell.  I set up my tripod, put my phone on it and we got staged for our family photo.  We take it and then immediately decree and commission.  The kiddos and Kristi hurry to get in the van after 5 minutes outside.  I broke down the tripod and had to take my gloves off to do it.  As soon as I touched the metal with my bare hand, it froze to it.  Again, Montana, why?

As we warmed up and planned our route to Chyenne, Wyoming, it felt like we were in the heartbeat of the west.  What the west is supposed to be like.  Thank you, Montana for holding the line, but we need to talk about that cold…

Shalom, Shalom