AMAZING Grace

So, pretty much the whole country can now agree, Ike was a real pain. Friends of my family clear up in Missouri had flooding due to...you guessed it, Ike. Seriously flooding - like their basement flooded and they have some pretty serious water damage.

I have not been home since last Thursday when I forced my family to evacuate to my Mammaw and Pappaw's place in the country, but Mark has returned home and is sleeping in our dark house and going to work during the day. I'm not sure when we will get power. And by the way, due to the extreme amount of texting I have done over the past week, it is a wonder that I can even type a complete sentence.

Our house is fine, as is the rest of our family's homes. We are so grateful for that and even more grateful we are all fine and we know where each other is staying until further notice (i.e. until we have electricity)

It seems like a storm like Ike can just stop life, or life as we know it, at least for a while. But it's an illusion - time does not stand still while a hurricane barrels across the country. Today I am back on the internet for the first time. We have some sweet friends from church - they are actually one of the first couples we met and became friends with when we joined our big church 8 years ago. The husband has been battling cancer for the second time for two years now. He took a sudden turn for the worse over the summer and just before the storm they had been admitted at M.D. Anderson. I went to his carepage to check and see how things are going for them. Yesterday he was put in hospice. Time did not stand still.

Another family I know came home to four trees being on, or in, their home. It's obviously uninhabitable. They have a micro-preemie who is still on oxygen and does all kinds of therapies several times a day, plus their other two sons. Time did not stand still.

I guess what I'm saying is whatever we have going, it keeps going when a storm comes, even if we feel like we are cut off from the world and separated from news from the outside. A hurricane is just one more thing to deal with. And for the two families I mentioned, who by the way, remain thankful - I can only imagine a hurricane is a huge inconvenience as their plates are already FULL. But I don't really get the feeling they are complaining about the lack of a.c. or not being able to blow dry their hair. They seem to be thankful they have each other; thankful they have support from extended family and friends; relying on each other and family and friends for the stuff they can help with; and dealing with the same stuff that was there before the storm with truly AMAZING GRACE.

I hope the four or five of you who read this blog are all getting back to normal. I found out just before we left for the storm that Sarah tagged me so I will let you in on 6 random things about me tomorrow.