The Disney House and Prayers for Peace

Well, our trip to San Antonio went well. We got to stay with some old friends. Their kids were in Bret's first youth group in Corpus Chrisit. They have a guest house in the backyard that was all ours. Mrs. Marsha is a Mickey Mouse/Disney fanatic and had a large part of her collection out there. The brothers fell in love with the Monsters Inc. Boo doll (she talked and sang her little song) and a book that had 25 or so Disney movie stories in it. She even made Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast this morning. Thank you, Sid and Marsha for your hospitality!The dinner was at the home of some more old friends. Bret actually lived with them during the summer that he was a youth intern in Corpus Christi, the summer that we got engaged. There were many more old friends there, too. This fund raising thing is a lot of hard and often unpleasant work. But the chance to get to visit with so many old friends has been such a blessing! We got to share our dreams, cast our vision, show off our kids. Thank you, Kerry and Shannon for your hospitality, as well!

With that said, we are now sitting at Bret's folks house anxiously waiting to see what our friend Gustav will do. Evacuees are beginning to make their way here. Gammie got the last box of diapers and the last can of formula at the WalMart here. As she was reaching for the diapers, a woman tried to talk her into giving them to her, claiming she was a New Orleans evacuee. Gammie's inner "Momma-Bear" came out (as mine would have, as well), and she sweetly explained that her grandbaby from New Orleans was evacuating here, as well. He needed formula and diapers, too. She clutched her treasures all the more tightly, picked up a few other necessities and got out of there! Thank you, Gammie...

I would like to share an excerpt from an email that Bret sent out. He, of course, beautifully describes our feelings and prayers:

As Hurricane Gustav continues to strengthen just south of the Gulf we are prayerful for the people of Cuba and anxiously awaiting what path the storm will take tomorrow and Monday. As you have probably heard (the media loves this kind of story) the 3 year anniversary of Katrina was yesterday. Folks in the New Orleans area who were there Pre-K are saying that this storm has reminded them a lot of that one.

It could well be that any storm near the Gulf right now would be reminding our neighbors of past experiences, but in any case, will you lift up prayers on our behalf? Specifically I’d ask that you petition God for his Spirit of peace – that which is available even in the midst of chaos.

We of course also ask that God will protect us from the elements. We do not pray that it will turn and thus inflict damage on someone else; we pray that the Lord will deliver all of his children. We are mindful today of those in Cuba , Jamaica , the Cayman Islands, Haiti and the Dominican Republic . I rejoice that we do not serve a regional god, only powerful enough to be concerned with one people group; our God is mighty to save all whom he loves…and that, my friends is all of us.

Because of the scheduling of our fundraising dinner we have, in effect, already evacuated. Bret, Rachel, Conner, Micah, Josiah, Chicory, two vehicles, wedding pictures and important documents, three softies (and the Coach/Freds…see Rachel’s blog), extra pull-ups, diapers and formula, two computers and all of the Backyardigans movies are safe and sound in Singleton, TX. My books are still in Mandeville though…

Should the storm make landfall in or near New Orleans we will keep you updated on any disaster relief needs. In the meantime, let us lift a chorus of prayers to our father and express our gratitude for the gift of technology that gives everyone forewarning of events like hurricanes.