After 48 hours or so of sub-freezing temperatures, many local residents were scratching their heads wondering: What’s happening in Mississippi?

Winter in the Deep South is supposed to be almost imperceptible, a brief cold snap between football and baseball seasons.

A day, or perhaps two, of frigid weather is enough, but nearly an entire week? That’s almost unheard of around here and we like it that way.

Over the past few years the weather here has routinely seemed colder and colder with the appearance of snow and ice being far less rare than in the previous decades.

By tomorrow, the hard freeze warning in effect for our area should be lifted as warming temperatures are expected to arrive.

Despite the cold temperatures and the myriad of busted pipes, the warm spirit of some residents cannot be chilled.

We applaud the Rev. Birdon Mitchell for the kindness he offered this week to complete strangers. Mitchell, the pastor of Zion Chapel AME Church opened the church’s building to area homeless people so they had a warm place to sleep as the temperatures dropped.

The simple, but direct action he took in opening up the church should serve as a model for the rest of us.

Thank you, Rev. Mitchell, for being a model of Christ and an inspiration for all of us.