Surviving Hurricane Ike

Howdy friends. Life has been pretty busy the past few weeks. We got back to school, as well as starting co-op. I just haven't had lots of time for blogging.

Just to let you know, yes, we did stay for Ike. For those reading this who may not know, I live approximately 25 miles northwest of Galveston, straight up I-45. Compared to many in the Houston, Galveston area, our town weathered the storm very well. Most of our little town has power again, and things are starting to feel more "normal".

My husband (Bugman) decided to stay for the hurricane, and I wasn't going to leave without him. So, stay we did. It is incredible to witness the power of God in action. Truthfully, the storm wasn't as scary as I expected, but maybe that was because of the peace I had (read Psalm 91 over and over!). It was after, with no power and it being so miserably hot, that was so awful.

We had really no damage to our house, no fence to fall, and so just a lot of tree-debris to clean up. Bugman got a new chainsaw and had lots of fun (still is!) helping neighbors cut up limbs and trees in their yards.

We spent Saturday after the storm cleaning up our yard of large debris items, and then cleaning up the gutters and storm drains on our street to help the water go down. Many on my street were not as lucky as us, and had large (HUGE) trees down in their yards or even in their homes.

Sunday, we left after church to go out of town. Our congregation meets in a school, which turned out to be the hardest hit school of all the ones in our district (so who knows where we will meet after this!). We met at our pastor's home for that Sunday. We left Sunday and headed for Roanoke, TX (just north of Ft. Worth). We stayed with our dear friend Pat (kids call her "Mama Pat"... she loves it!). We got a call Monday that there was power again in our house, and Tuesday we headed back. We ate lunch at our favorite Roanoke spot Babe's Chicken Dinner House and went away happy.

Wednesday was dedicated to finishing our yard, as well as helping other families with theirs. Other than a slight altercation with a neighbor (who wanted to wait for "the city" to take care of his problems), we actually had a great time, bonding with neighbors and getting to know some we had not met before. Our side of the street had power on Monday, but our neighbors across the street had none until Wednesday night. We ran an extension cord over to them so they could run a fan, or plug in their refrigerator.

Stores have been low on lots of items.... milk, cheese, eggs have been scarce, but are getting more plentiful. I went today and was able to get everything I wanted. I think one of the keys is to go EARLY. Gas lines are getting shorter. Over all, we have been blessed in more ways than we can imagine!

So many in our area are still without power. It is quite sad and depressing. My sister-in-law up in Kingwood (north of Houston) may not have power until late next week.

I think the saddest part for me is throwing out so much good food (and then smelling it rot in front of the house).

I will blog more later. I am still in awe of the power of God and how much he does for us.