Prayer Request - Bailey's Tummy

Please be praying for Bailey. She has run a fever, vomited, and had diarrhea all weekend. Sam' took her into the ER yesterday and they kept her there all day to hydrate her, but they released her at night because they couldn't figure out what was wrong. She was up all night making hourly trips to the bathroom, so needless to say Sam' and I are both tired as well. This morning she was back at her pediatrician's to get checked out and they sent her out for blood work. So now we wait until later this evening to get those results back before we know what to do. This could be anything from Staph or Salmonella to Bailey swallowing a button that her body just can't seem to pass. We'll just have to wait and see, but until then, please keep her and us in your prayers. Thanks.

Catching Up with Technology

Praise God the storms have passed and life is getting back to normal, at least to some extent. My temporary assignment at work has been completed and I am no longer planning meals, lodging, or cleanup for anyone. It was fun while it lasted and I think that I may actually have enough experience to run FEMA now.

Throughout last week I felt like I was relegated to using an old rotary phone. The display on my cell when out right before the storm hit and I had ordered a replacement phone. The problem was that FedEx decided that a hurricane was reason enough not to deliver my phone on time. I spent a week of making phone calls and communicating with people on a cell phone that I couldn't see wath I was doing. No text messages, no missed call screen, no contact list...nothing. On Monday I was finally able to get my new phone a Motorola Moto W755. It's no iPhone, but it's definitely miles ahead of the old StarTrek Communicator that I was using. Now my task is just entering in the 2 years worth of phone numbers that I had saved only in my phone. Next time I think I'll back it up every so often.

Not only did we go up in the phone technology area, but we finally broke down and got Dish Network installed. It was a little knee jerk, but we had been talking about it for a few months and I really was wanting to get the channels that they play football on more often...ie ESPN and NFL network. I'm also glad to have the Fox News Network, HGTV, and the Weather Channel. The cost was about the same a cable with more channels and a DVR which we missed from when we had digital cable years ago. Now the only challenge will be that we don't try to catch up on all of the "cable" tv that we've "missed" over the last year of living only only basic. It shouldn't be too hard, but the temptation is always there to spend too much time mouth breathing in front of the idiot box. In order to combat this I've armed myself with "Red" by Ted Dekkar. I'm not a fast reader. My ADD kicks in and I have to reread pages at a time so I don't miss something while I was day dreaming. My goal is to finish the book by October 31 so I can take "White" (the last book in the series) with me on my flight to Germany. The first flight is overnight, so I won't be reading much then, but the layovers and return flight should give me lots of time to read.

There's much more to tell and postulate about, but for now I guess I'll just leave this here. My focus this month is as Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else, so later I can Live like No One else". Graber out.

What's your House built on?

We survived the storm with NO damage to our house or property. It had to be God's hand on us because we have not found a single house that fits that description in the whole town. We don't have a fence picket or a single shingle out of place. All of our neighbors sustained at least fence damage or roof damage. We had NONE, Praise God.

Get this....we heard on the radio that it would be 2-4 weeks before power would be restored. We got it back at about 7pm this evening. The phone land line and DSL came back at that time as well. We are back up with all utilities and conveniences the same day the storm rolled through....Amazing!!! Now we must be a blessing to others since we are so greatly blessed.

Did I mention that when we were pouring the foundation of this house, Samantha and I snuck onto the job site and buried a Bible under the front porch and prayed that God would use this house for His purpose? Not saying that NIV Bible protected this house, but it's not beyond the Saviour that it talks about to use anything for His Glory!! Now off to find some wind blown souls who need to be ministered to.

Hunkering Down

Just a quick update on where we are. At home, yeap, we are here. We've canceled our reservations in Little Rock, which happens to be in the path of the storm as well. We've made all of our preparations and we are ready to ride out this storm here in Lumberton. We are on high ground in Lumberton without rivers close and the storm surge is much lower than our elevation of 54ft. We have no trees around our home (let alone in the neighborhood) to be concerned with, so we're staying along with everyone else on our street. I'll post some pictures later as I document the storm and our ride out adventure.

One thing that Sam' and I have found interesting is this concept of "hunkering down." Sam' first asked if that was actually a word and I wasn't sure. As we've continually watched the local news casts, we've learned that it is what Texans do during hurricanes. In most cases it involves firearms, EasyCheese, and poker chips. We're not sure we are adequately suited to actually "hunker down" but we figure we can button up the house and ride this baby out.

Round 2

Bearly a week has gone by and nothing has really changed. We are bracing ourselves for another round with another hurricane. Can't these things just go somewhere else? It was a nice long drive up to Michigan for Gustov and then it didn't even hit our area. I'm not complaining. I'd rather have a miss than a hit, but you the natural reaction is to be upset that you went through it all for nothing. Now Ike is staring us down and it looks like we are right in the crosshairs. There is still lots of time for Ike to turn away from us, but we are right in the middle of the "Cone of destruction." My biggest fear is that after Gustov sent everyone packing, some people won't have the means or feel inclined to evacuate again. I can already hear people saying, "well Gustov missed us and we spent all this money evacuating, I can't afford that again so I'm just waiting this one out." That could be a deadly mistake. We are getting ready to evacuate again if we have to, but work will have a say in that as well. It looks like we'll make reservations in Little Rock and see where to go from there.

Mexican Refugees Out of Harm's Way

We are out of there! Some would call me an extremist, but I think Michigan is a great place to ride out a hurricane. We made the 19 hour drive yesterday with no problem. We were actually commenting on how this was the best trip yet for driving the whole way in one shot. The freezer and fridge were emptied and towels put at all of the windows, but beyond that it's in God's hands. We're following the storm on the weather channel and it looks like we won't get impacted until some time tomorrow.

Once we let my parents know that we were coming my dad called my 90 year old grandmother and told her that they were going to be housing refugees from Texas. She said, "ohhh? Well, do you know anything about them?" He said, "Yes, they have twin girls and a little boy." She said, "Well, are they Mexicans?" To which my dad busted up laughing. He said, "No, it's your grandson!" Glad to know she thinks of us often and was concerned.