Where to Start . . .

It feels like a lifetime has elapsed since I last posted to this blog. So much has happened over the past couple of weeks that I hardly know where to begin in the telling. The most important thing is that all of our family and loved ones were kept safe during hurricane Ike, and we praise God for that miracle. However, most of our homes did not fare quite as well as we would have liked.

My sister's home had a tree fall on it, and the structure was a complete loss. Fortunately, most of her belongings were not ruined. At this point, she, her husband and their four children are living in a small 2 bedroom house in a fairly undesirable part of town. They are hoping that they will be able to find something more permanent soon.

We had several families among our friends and acquaintances who had trees fall on various parts of their homes. Our pastor and his wife had a 60 ft. tree fall across their back yard, over the swimming pool and into their detached garage. Another family had a tree fall into their master bedroom.

Our home experienced sort of the typical damage. We lost a fair percentage of our shingles. My dad and Dan put tarps on the roof a couple of days after Ike passed. We bought 7 tarps (all they had in stock), and we were still nailing old shingles back to the roof to keep any rain out. Our fence is gone, which has traumatized our dog because she cannot go outside and play in the yard. We also have quite a bit of water damage on the drywall throughout the house. We were fortunate that the water did not damage our carpet or belongings. Instead it ran along the rafters and down into the walls. We were out of our house for 2 weeks because of the horrible smell from the water damage. Now that it has mostly dried we have moved back in, but the smell lingers somewhat. I dread going through the process of having everything repaired. If I don't look at the ceiling or too closely at the walls, I can pretend that everything is normal.

Dealing with the insurance company has been a horrible experience already. I contacted Allstate while the last bands of winds and rain were still blowing. We have had three adjusters over the past two weeks, and among them we've had one phone call with no hint at when they might come to assess our house.

All in all, we are doing well. I think we've been keeping so busy that I really haven't let myself think on things too much. We've been helping various members of our family with clean up of their homes and yards. There were and are so many downed trees. The brush pickup services are pretty much running continually, and they just cannot keep up with it all.

My heart aches for those even nearer the coast on Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston island. Most of them lost everything. The search teams have been combing our county for the bodies of those who may have been washed inland by the storm surge. It is a little eerie to know that places like Smith's Point and Oak Island pretty much don't exist anymore.

Papa has helped us to maintain some sense of normalcy for our daughter through all of this. I think it has truly been hardest on her. She tells everyone "the storm broke my house." Then she launches into an explanation that "Mama and Dada are going to fix my house." When I tried to explain that we would have someone come repair it, she became very upset and informed me that no one else needed to come that Mama could fix the roof. Apparently, all those fix-it projects with scotch tape and super glue have deluded her into thinking that I have supernatural repair powers.

Through everything God is so good. That sounds almost hollow to say it that way, but simply put, it is the truth. My Father is in complete control even though I feel completely out of control. I know that He is working all things to the good even through this horrible tragedy.

Stay tuned because in the next day or so I will post some pictures of the damage in Baytown, my town.