I know many thought the media over-hyped the hurricane but for those who lost someone, or whose home was destroyed or even those who still don’t have electricity might not agree.
Boston.com’s: The Big Picture has a wonderful photo album showing what the storm brought and how people coped: by preparing, by cleaning up and some by enjoying the storm.
Hurricane Irene Aftermath:
Mom and I were at my sister’s house before the hurricane and stayed. It makes us all feel better if we are together for company .
For us just limbs and leaves fell all over her lawn but no trees down. My mom’s house also was fine, with not even a limb down. We did have to have a tree cut up across my aunt’s property so we could have people get in and out of the lane.
I had moved my car from under the large tree which was a good idea as a large limb fell right where my car would have been.
Electricity was out for 60 hours.
The first morning my sister and I drove around early, while mom was still sleeping to get some coffee and ice. Everything along Route 40 was closed except the Mars. We did find a MacDonald’s open but found no ice.
The weather was beautiful so the breezes were delightful with the windows open.
We ate out a lot.
Everyone ate ice cream bars and again several hours later as they were melting fast.
We used up lots of candles.
With enough candles you can read a book or your Kindle. I finished several books but couldn’t write up reviews on my computer as it was dead.
My sister found the radio and we had batteries to listen to some news but saved it for the Orioles games. We all love to listen to the games, especially Mom.
It was fun to play Nerts, and I actually won.
We played Bananagrams late at night.
We were able to take short showers. Get in and wet your hair. Turn water off and shampoo. Then turn water back on. We still had some pretty warm water after power was off for 2 days.
We charged cellphones when we were driving or as my sister did, go out in the car and charge the cellphone. My charger from the car was not working so I basically had a dead cellphone most of the time.
We checked the cellphones every hour for messages especially from family. All of our siblings also were without power.
Finally after 48 hours with no electricity we found ice and put some food from the fridge and freezer in coolers.
Once Electricity Back On:
Clean out the refrigerator and freezer. We had kept the refrigerator closed as much as possible and gotten ice on Monday but after 60 hours of no electricity there wasn’t much to salvage. Is the cost of spoiled food added into the hurricane damage costs? I feel for those who have been working during the summer freezing things which have now spoiled. What a shame.
Vacuum as there have been all kinds of things tracked in – especially leaves.
Shower. Now we could not just wash our hair but condition it too.
Wash clothes.
Have a nice hot cup of coffee without having to go out and buy it or a nice cold drink.
Watch the news and try to catch up on all the pictures and news of the aftermath across the nation.
Keep your cellphone on because you can plug it into the wall to charge without going out to the car to recharge it.
Check your emails.
Check Twitter and Facebook for more than one or two minutes at a time because you can charge your cellphone and your computer.
Lessons:
It is good to be with family during snow storms and hurricanes. We laughed and told stories of other hurricanes: Agnes where Mom drove us down to Woodlawn to see the damage and we all helped a neighborhood close by clean up; Hugo where Diane was without power for more than a week and lost a huge tree in her front yard and was under a turned over sofa as the winds whipped by.
Reading is free and wonderful: Bible, books, magazines were all read.
Telling stories and laughing together is good.
A little suffering puts things in perspective. Praying for those who lost much more than a tree limb or electricity.
Thankful to God.
How did you fare during Hurricane Irene?
Psalm 32: 7-11 (Psalm 32:1-6)
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the LORD’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
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David is here improving the experience he had had of the comfort of pardoning mercy.
He speaks to God, and professes his confidence in him and expectation from him, v. 7. Having tasted the sweetness of divine grace to a penitent sinner, he cannot doubt of the continuance of that grace to a praying saint, and that in that grace he should find both safety and joy.
When we have received the comfort of our remission, we must fly to the grace of God to be preserved from returning to folly again, and having our hearts again hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. God keeps his people from trouble by keeping them from sin.
Those are best able to teach others the grace of God who have themselves had the experience of it; and those who are themselves taught of God ought to tell others what he has done for their souls and so teach them.
Let us not be like them; let us not be hurried by appetite and passion, at any time, to go contrary to the dictates of right reason and to our true interest.
Sin will have sorrow if not repented of, everlasting sorrow.
They are assured that if they will but trust in the Lord, and keep closely to him, mercy shall compass them about on every side (v. 10), so that they shall not depart from God, for that mercy shall keep them in, nor shall any real evil break in upon them, for that mercy shall keep it out.
Matthew Henry, Commentary of the Bible, Psalm XXXII, vs. 7-11, highlights
When I moved from South Carolina to Maryland I was concerned about my books. There I had bookcases in every room except the bathrooms and laundry room. I have been a librarian so the books were organized so I could find what I needed. In my den were two very tall bookshelves that I had gotten at a house auction over 25 years ago that had antique books and my mysteries. In the guest bedroom were several cases, one with Christian fiction and fantasy including the Bodie Thoene Zion Covenant and Zion Chronicle series, Stephen Lawhead’s The Pendragon Cycle series, The Dragon King Trilogy and of course J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis classics. My theology books were in several cases, arranged by the author’s last name. In my bedroom, were books I often would go to time and again plus a whole section of books to be read. My library reflected my love of books, my librarian background and what I types of book I read and collect.
When I moved there were boxes and boxes of books – too many for those who packed and moved the boxes. I was moving in with my mother to care for her and so there really wasn’t room for me to set up all my bookcases. I set up some of the shelves upstairs and the rest were put in the basement. I cringed because humidity is not good for books but with a dehumidifier it has been okay. The biggest problem is there are lots of books still in boxes because in addition to the books in my home I had thousands of books from school: teacher books, reference books and lots of picture books, student nonfiction and fiction books from the classroom. After 5 years I still sometimes have to go sorting through boxes to find what I need.
Here are some Libraries of Celebrities. These are beautiful settings for books and some look more used than others. I would love to check out the titles, pull a book off the shelf and sit down and read a spell.
I have enjoyed the study tours of these pastors.
Here are two others that may also interest you: Albert Mohler and Ligon Duncan
What library in your life is your favorite?
In the last Horton post as we discussed The Christian Faith, we looked at Hear O Israel and today that theme continues in Part III. Hearing is Believing. The last section made me think about the importance of hearing. “ ‘Hear I am’ corresponds to the Word of the covenant Lord; ‘I see?’ expresses our possession of reality. We hear promises: we see their fulfillment. Seeing is not believing ; it is possessing.” ( p 90) Both of these aspects are important but “there will be a time when we will no longer believe what we hear. Faith and hope will yield to sight…” (p 91)
In I Corinthians 13:8 -12 Paul says, For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (ESV). “For us now, hearing is believing.” (p. 91) Romans 10:17: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Horton provides this chart to help understand these concepts:
| The Righteousness that is by Work |
Seeing |
Our Ascent |
Vision of Glory |
| The Righteousness that is by Faith |
Hearing |
God’s Descent |
Word of Promise |
|
Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way,© 2011, p. 91 |
|||
I have heard these things before but Horton brought them together so that I felt like a lightbulb went on in my head. “One day there will be no need for faith or hope, but for now, God is still “re-wording” creation.” (p 91) II Corinthians 5:7 says “we walk by faith, not by sight”.
I have read and even teach Augustine and Horton stated that unlike Luther, Augustine puts seeing above hearing. I am going to have to remember this when my class reads Augustine’s “Confessions”. After the Reformers , The Westminster Confession writers also understood this concept and said “that God blesses the reading ‘but especially the preaching of the Word’ of God as a means of grace.” (p 92)
Two others writers that Horton quotes also give insight. Hans Blumenberg said, “play metaphors of the ear against those of the eye. The eye wanders, selects, approaches things, presses after them, while the ear, for its part, is affected and accosted. The eye can seek, the ear can only wait. Seeing ‘places’ things’ hearing is places… That which demands unconditionally is encountered in hearing. Conscience has a ‘voice’, not light.’” “Stephen Webb goes so far as to suggest that the Reformation represents ‘an event within the history of sound,’ and event of ‘revocalizing the Word.’” (p 92)
This got me thinking of how churches present the gospel today. Is the speaking of the truth the central part of our worship? How does this go with so many modern churches where there are overheads of pictures, videos, and sometimes a shortening of the proclamation, the speaking of the Gospel? Are we short-changing our congregation? What about how we are teaching our young people in youth groups or our children in Sunday School? Luther said “We are not rational beings first of all; we are primarily speaking beings.”(p 93) I am thankful that I have sat under preachers who faithfully and clearly preached God’s truth and churches where the sermon was the most important thing and time was not an issue. I remind my pastor friends that the preaching of God’s truth is the most important thing, remembering that “The preacher, Calvin dared to say, was the mouth of God”. May we who sit at their feet encourage them and hear God’s truth with all ears.
AnnKroeker.Writing I have followed Ann Kroeker’s blog for several years. She has written several books and on her blog talks about her faith, reading and writing and sponsors Food on Fridays. Her entry, Dancing in the Loft with her photographs and memories of her parent’s farm brought back my memories of growing up on my grandparent’s farm. Check this beautiful entry, tour around her blog and add her to your feed. Her writing is powerful and you will enjoy getting to know her.
Di Doodlings Yesterday after the earthquake, my sister collected some of the Earthquake! stories from other blogs. One of things I love about blogs is reading other people’s stories and experiences. Di Doodlings also has several giveaways going on so enter them and add her to your feed so you can find out about more contests.
A friend tweeted this today after the earthquake tremor hit Maryland. I remember this song as one of the greats on Carole King’s Tapestry album that I used to play over and over. Today though it had a different meaning for me. I was at my sister’s, both of us in the living room with my mother when we felt shaking. My sister and I looked at each and I stood up and said, “Earthquake?” Last summer we had some tremors early in the morning and the first thing I did then was check Twitter. I wrote about it and sure enough so did my sister so we called and then followed the other tweets from around the area.
Today the shaking was much longer and stronger. It was a beautiful day so the windows were open. I ran to the front window and Diane ran downstairs to see if the washing machine was shaking. Then the shaking got worse and I ran to mom to reassure her and yelled for my sister to come up out of the basement. She went outside and birds were flying wildly about and I then heard kids and saw the church school across the street had evacuated. Then the shaking stopped.
We both had been on our computers so I immediately put a message on Facebook about the earthquake and checked Twitter. There was nothing on the TV yet. Diane started reading the posts from Twitter coming from not just Maryland but Virginia and New York. There was a confirmation of a 5.8 earthquake. I decided to walk across the street as I thought they might want to know what was happening. Students were sitting on the curb, far from the church. Some boys asked me if I felt it and I said yes. They were thinking something had happened in the church, so they couldn’t believe I had felt it also. I, though a teacher, wasn’t thinking and said yes, it was an earthquake. I headed to a huddle of teachers who were now aware of me and had started walking toward me. I told them it was an earthquake and they were relieved that it wasn’t an explosion in the building. I saw one had her cellphone but she was not able to get service.
As I walked back past the boys I said, “This is something you can tell your grandchildren about.” Then I added, “I hope you never feel a stronger earthquake.” I came back to my sister’s and called a friend in SC and had no problems with service. He had just heard and was getting ready to call but had felt nothing.
It is interesting how we find out things today. In the book War News: Blue & Gray in Black & White I read how newspapers used couriers or telegraphs from reporters in the field to find out what was going on during battles. During World War II, the public waited for newsreels at movie theatres to see what was happening on the front. Today we get frustrated when we can’t get through right away on our cellphones, our computers, or when the cable and network news don’t have the latest information. We want to know what is going on when something big has happened from the huge snowstorm of 2010 when here we were snowed in for a week or when there has been hurricane and tornado damage in our country or abroad, or something as tragic as 9/11 when we were in shell-shock that this had happened in our country. We try to contact people we love to make sure they are OK. We want to share experiences, to hear the stories. Say what you will about social media but oftentimes it really does bring us together.
How do you use social media to stay in contact with friends and family?
A Sheetcake Named Desire is the first in a new mystery series, A Piece of Cake, by Jacklyn Brady. Chef Rita Lucero heads to New Orleans to have her ex-husband, Phillippe sign some divorce papers. However, before she can do that she finds him at his business, Zydeco Cakes with a knife in his chest. Rita is thrown into action because since the divorce was not final she now owns the company.
There had been tension at Zydeco but Rita cannot believe Ox, Phillippe’s good friend had anything to do with it though Phillippe and Ox had argued that day. Miss Frankie, Rita’s mother-in-law loves her and wants her to stay and find out the killer. She also wants Rita to take over the business. Rita does stay to get things worked out but soon finds out there has been a lot going on at Zydeco. There is a man who has tried to buy the company and Phillippe’s girlfriend is not exactly what she appears to be. The employees aren’t sure what to think of Rita but she has more strength than she realizes and jumps in to find out what is going on and keep the cake business going. Add to that mix Detective Sullivan who seems more interested than just in solving a murder.
Brady has written interesting characters: Rita, a strong woman but is not a smart aleck like so many female sleuths; Miss Frankie, not your typical mother-on-law but likeable strong Southern lady who really respects Rita; and then there is the interesting Detective Sullivan. I ended the book wanting to read more about them all and to try some of the recipes Brady added at the back of the book.
Psalm 32: 1-6
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
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Sin makes us loathsome in the sight of God and utterly unfit for communion with him, and, when conscience is awakened, it makes us loathsome to ourselves too; but, when sin is pardoned, it is covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness.
The forgiveness of sin is that article of the covenant which is the reason and ground of all the rest.
Those may be said to keep silence who stifle their convictions, who , when they cannot but see the evil of sin and their danger by reason of it, ease themselves by not thinking of it and diverting their minds to something else, as Cain to the building of a city, who will not unburden their consciences by a penitent confession, nor seek for peace, as they ought, by faithful and fervent prayer,–and who chose rather to pine away in their iniquities than to take the method which God has appointed of finding rest for their souls. Let such expect that their smothered convictions will be a fire in their bones, and the wounds of sin, not opened will fester, and grow intolerably painful.
Note, He that covers his sin shall not prosper; some inward trouble is required in repentance but there is much worse in impenitency.
We must confess the fact of sin, and be particular in it, confess the fault of sin, aggravate it, and lay a load upon ourselves for it, confess the justice of the punishment we have been under for it. We must confess sin with shame and holy blushing, with fear and holy trembling.
I would make a free and ingenious confession of my sin and immediately thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
Note, God is more ready to pardon sin, upon our repentance, than we are to repent in order to the obtaining of pardon.
Matthew Henry, Commentary of the Bible, Psalm XXXII, highlights.
We have all seen black and photos of World War II but Life released some amazing Color Photographs of the London Blitz. They were released as part of the 70th anniversary of the start of Winston Churchill’s ‘V for Victory’ campaign on July 19, 1941. What a leader Churchill was in rallying the British to confront the Nazi. These photos show the devastation of the bombing but also the determination of the British people to rebuilt. Thankful for those who stood up for truth. May we not forget.
