Post Hurricane Party

It was the starriest night. Michelle and I sat and talked with our feet in the pool.
Lovely except for the sound of someone's generator. On second thought, a generator makes a beautiful sound, but it is possibly only a temporary lullaby, because gas to run it is hard to get. Better that it stop because gasoline comes to the stations, and along with it electricity to pump up some water. Our well, being a community well for 5 families, is hooked up to the city and could backfeed if we tinkered with it.

We humans all want an escape from our set of circumstances, but the catch is to live without the escape. Thanks be unto God who ALWAYS cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus. ALWAYS. Remind of that when we run out of gas : )

Last evening some neighbors came over. A family from a pocket of the city that is lighted joined us for a swim and brought ice!! So we partied! We must remember next time that home-time means you NEED to bring flashlights! It is pitch dark, but Bob walked an older couple to their house while I drove two elderly ladies back to theirs. As I watched them clinging to each other and stepping gingerly over the downed cable in their driveway I was struck again by how well off we are. Our boys work at cleaning up, they play some, study a little, and swim, all day and all without danger at our house.

I recall after Y2K didn't happen, feeling puzzled and embarrassed, because I sincerely "just knew" there was a reason to prepare. What it was is that God is so longsuffering, He warned us well in advance -- and now, for us, it is here, even though we really, really hope it is temporary! I am re-reading "How to Live without Electricity and Like it" thinking we really need to maintain our bikes and I may go talk to the black man down the street and see about buying some chickens. I hear his rooster occasionally.

Last night my 90 year old Dad in Ontario emailed me. I agree about the "umbrella of protection". He writes:

..........I bought half a tank of gas today. Normally that would cost about $20. Today it was $47 I cannot help but feel that while the Tsunami in SE Asia was a wake up call to the nations in that area, this tragedy has to be a wake up call to the US and Canada.

Canada has gone further down the moral deterioration path than the US, yet to date we have been spared. Our umbrella of protection has long since been removed, and I feel that we are exposed to the malevolence of the adversary.

God is most certainly speaking. I was pleased to hear President Bush mention the name of God at one point. There is little that he can do, but church leaders need to speak up and challenge the nation to repent. It is a difficult situation to deal with. While the pleasure loving nation as a whole is guilty, any mention of a divine hand would seem to imply that those who suffered were at fault for their own calamity. That would not be true and to even speak of a divine hand would seem to imply guilt of those who suffered. When God spared Nineveh in Jonah;s time, He took note that children were delivered. They were certainly in no sense part of the problem. They would have been innocent victims of the overthrow of the city......

Thanks Dad. Yes we are righteous, but happen to be in the boat along with the Ninevites. However, we know the mercy of our Father and He will/does provide. You know, even if He never helped us get another gallon of gas or water, we have one thing that those without Him do not have - ETERNAL LIFE! Jesus said, "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."

School will be back in session next week.....God willing.... : )

I still have my Y2K scrub board, so today I will launder some uniforms for the kids, and shirts for Bob. The boys will string up a clothesline I have kept for this very purpose. It all should be quite interesting.

PS The news this morning from the coast is very serious. We may find ourselves in a situation here in Jackson as more refugees move north. Many are already coming back up now after seeing they have no home. Pray about security and food. WalMart had a big barbeque of food that was spoiling from folks' freezers, for refugees who are wandering around, but when that runs out we will need more food in our area.