It’s been a really different week for us at the office. We’re still in recovery mode from Hurricane Ike, meaning there is a lot of work going on in various parts of the church building. We lost 2 walls on our gymnasium. We lost an entire wing of our education building. The preschool and childrens wing had some water damage. A company that specializes in cleaning up those kind of messes was contracted to work on our building. They’ve been busy at work since Tuesday morning. Sheet rock and drywall has come out and the drying out phase has begun. Dust was everywhere and even masks didn’t help.

And although we didn’t realize it, the church office sustained some moisture damage as well. So all day Thursday the workers were busy tearing out drywall as far as 2 feet up on the wall. Water got into the area where the server is stored and while there was no damage to the server itself, they had to move everything out of that closet to rip out drywall. So, no computer. We were already doing without internet since Comcast (at that point) still had about 50% of their customers off-line. Now, we couldn’t even access interoffice email. Add to that the fact that most of the staff had gone home. So Micki and I left about 3:00 Thursday. The work crew was waiting for us to leave anyway so they could tear out the drywall behind our desks. And my nose and eyes were burning so it was a good excuse to just “get outta Dodge.”

As far as we know, things should be back to normal (whatever normal is) Monday for the preschool and children’s area. Mom’s Day Out and Kids Club can resume. And the school district will resume classes Monday also.

I do believe that God has a sense of humor. I look at it this way … our church has a reputation in our community for “thinking and working outside the walls” of the church building. We’ve done that for years now. Well, God gave us a boost by sending Ike our way. And He did this not only in the physical sense of the fact that we literally lost 2 walls of a building, but we’ve also been able to get outside the walls and help citizens in our community with repairs on their homes, food, water, ice, lodging …

It’s been a really different week for us at work but a week where we get to put action to our words. Yes, I know it’s an old cliche, but it’s a true one: PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH

Subject: Common Sense Obituary

My parents told me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life and told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions. It seems he was always around in my early years but less and less as time passed by until today I read his obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance. For Common Sense had served us all so well for so many generations.

Obituary
Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn’t always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies(adults, not children are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get
parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student; but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I’m a Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

I believe…That just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do love each other.
I believe…That we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I believe…That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I believe…That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I believe…That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
I believe…That it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I believe…That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I believe…That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.
I believe…That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I believe…That either you control your attitude or it controls you..
I believe…That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I believe…That money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I believe…That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I believe…That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down, will be the ones to help you get back up.
I believe…That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.
I believe…That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.
I believe…That it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I believe…That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.
I believe…That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for whom we become.
I believe…That you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life Forever.
I believe…Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I believe…That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.
I believe…That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you – you will find the strength to help.
I believe…That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I believe…That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

You know things are getting back to normal around here when the Super Wal-Mart reopens after a hurricane! Yes, Erica and I are back home. We have had electrical power since Monday afternoon but no internet. Yesterday (Friday) AT&T came out and fixed us up. The gas stations and grocery stores are slowly coming to life again. The electric company is actually doing a really great job restoring all the power to people. Galveston Island and several areas around it aren’t faring as well, though. It will be awhile before things are back to normal there. Boliver Penisula was pretty much wiped off the map. It’s been interesting to see satellite pictures of before and after Ike.

Our church sustained a lot of damage, like I mentioned in my previous post. People have been working every day to begin the process of restoration. (To see pictures of the damage, go to our church website: www.fairmontpark.org Click on the picture on the front page and it will take you to the photo gallery.) Mike has been working on the Catastrophic Team for Zurich so we haven’t seen much of him as of late. Thankfully our neighbors next door have helped us with removing debris from our yard. This morning they helped us begin the process of cutting up our oak tree that fell in the backyard. Mike will try to get a chain saw (or buy one, if one can be found) and cut up what we weren’t able to do. Overall we feel very blessed when we see damage done to the homes of friends. Amazingly it seems that the older homes fared much better than the new construction homes.

I hope this is the last (if not one of the last) postings I will do about Hurricane Ike. Goodbye, and good riddance to Ike!

Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston Island (Houston) on September 13, 2008 in the early morning hours. Although Ike was only a category 2 hurricane, which is low on the scale, he was considered by meterologists to be one of the strongest hurricanes in history since he was so large in diameter and packed a tremendous amount of water. Storm surges in Galveston were somewhere around 18-20 feet with the inland areas being closer to 8-10 feet … a lot of water with no place to go!

Since I live about 3 miles from a portion of Galveston Bay, our city had mandatory evacuation. We went to my sister’s house about 150 miles northwest of where we live. As a matter of fact, as I write this entry we are still at her house. We’re here because somewhere close to 4 million people in the Houston metropolitan area are without electrical power. That would include where we live. We are told we may have to wait 2 weeks … maybe 4 weeks … before we will have power restored. Of course that means in the meantime no gas pumps work; no ATM machines work; no restaurants are open; no grocery stores are open … well, you get the drift. Not to mention the heat and humidity, although I’m told a small cool front did move through today. They only expect it to stick around until the middle of the week, though. Even so, the daytime temperatures are still around 80 degrees. Once the cool front moves on the temperature will rise along with the humidity.

Of course, generators are an option for electrical power. But they are in short supply and even when you manage to find a generator, it costs you an arm and a leg to keep it running because gasoline prices are so high. It places you between a rock and a hard spot. I know of one family that called around to all the Wal-Marts and ended up driving 80 miles where they actually still had generators left. So, do you sweat it out and do without power or do you break the bank???

I’ve managed to collect a few pictures from friends who are back in LP and I’ve put them in a photo album on this site if you’re interested in looking at the devastation. I will say this much … our house only has a little bit of damage … some roof shingles missing, our privacy fence gone, and a couple of trees in the backyard that are on the ground. Thankfully none of them hit the house! Our church, however, did not fare as well. We lost 2 walls of our gymnasium and an entire wing of our educational building.

More later …

Here is the latest map from the National Hurricane Center as of 4:00 pm CDT. It is moving CLOSER to the Houston/Galveston area …

Notice how the white “cone” area has moved further east … not good …

Man, these hurricanes are driving me crazy! First we think Gustav is coming straight at us, then he changes and goes in on the Louisiana coast. That’s okay with me, but we still weren’t sure until the last day or so whether we would evacuate. Now there’s Ike … started out heading straight at us a few days ago … then changed to go in further south, between Corpus Christi and Brownsville … then the next morning he had taken a turn to the north and is projected to come in at Rockport … closer to us again! As long as he doesn’t come any further north, we will stay here even if he becomes a Category 3, which they are predicting he will strengthen to. But if he gets as close as Freeport … we’re outta here, especially at a Cat 3. This is driving me crazy, though. Do we leave? Do we not leave? No wonder I have so many gray hairs!

Here’s a picture from the National Hurricane Center showing Ike’s path as of 1:00 pm CDT today:

(For those who don’t know where Houston is on the map, look at the “opening” near the Texas/Louisiana border … the right side of the white “cone” shaped area is where Houston is.)

We went to Carmax today and Erica bought a 2005 Saturn VUE … here are some pictures:

Pretty, huh?

Gustav ended up not being as bad as everybody thought. Thankfully!