Hurricane Pictures

The surf just before the hurricane hit.A little building outside our shelter during the storm.
Same building after the storm Our shelter and the plywood that protected us from the winds!

I am alive!

Thank-you to everyone for your prayers for me this week. I finally made it home last night. For those of you that don't know, I was in Cancun on "vacation" last week. The plan was to spend from Wednesday through Sunday on the beach and relax. Sadly, this didn't work out. Thursday morning we had to evacuate the hotel and go to a school for a shelter because Hurricane Wilma was headed out way as a category 5 storm. We slept on a blanket on the concrete floor. The eye of the hurricane was supposed to hit Friday morning. Instead the hurricane sat over us until Sunday morning. It was the longest strongest storm ever recorded to hit the Caribbean. It literally sat over us and went from a strong category 4 to a tropical storm over us. During the worst part, the plywood that was separating us from the storm was creaking and bowing and even cracking. Needless to say, I was a bit scared. Thank God it held and we are okay. We made it onto the first Delta flight out yesterday and got home. The shower felt wonderful :)

Decisions: facts or feelings?

How do you fall in love
How do you say I do
When is the perfect time
To spend the rest of your life
Seasons may come and go
And sometimes it rains and snows
And there will be highs and lows
So only you will know
You never know just where it will find you
’cause it can come on you so fast
Seems like it takes forever
When you want it so bad
But don’t ever take it for granted
’cause it’s more than sowing some seeds
It takes sun and water
So give it what it needs
And that’s how you fall in love
That’s when you say I do
That’s when you know it’s time
To spend the rest of your life
Now seasons may come and go
And sometimes it rains and snows
There will be highs and lows
So only you will know
There will be highs and lows
So only you will know

I've always thought this song was beautiful. But it would bug me that the writers would never really answer the question "How do you know?" I have always been a combination of analytical and romantic. I like to sort things into collums and weigh pros and cons. But sometimes you can't explain why you know something. You just know it. Many people I have spoken with confirms this phenomenon. When it's right, you will know. This is often said with regard to marriage. And I think it is true. But I think it also applys to other matters in life. It's helpful to get all the facts, to gain understanding and perspective and above all to pray. But I think all these things come together in a sort of gut feeling. And in the end, you know the right decision to make.

Any thoughts on this?

The Great Divorce

I was invited by someone at work to attend a narration of "The Great Divorce" by C. S. Lewis. It was by an actor from England. He used different accents and voices for the characters. It was a very interesting story. It told of the narrator who was on a bus trip from hell to heaven and the people he meets along the way. A statement I thought was profound was this. For those from the earth who ended up in hell, it penetrated back to their whole life. The sinful pleasures they once had, held no further pleasure and it was as if their whole life was hell. Those who ended up in heaven where able to think back on the hard times in their life and still see God or his hand, and it was as if their whole life was heaven.

Another interesting part was when the "ghosts" or people between heaven and hell dialogued with the saved. (In this story, people from hell can sometimes still choose to be saved. It's a parable, not necessarily a doctrine.) One ghost was holding on to a sign from the past represented by a lizard on his shoulder. The angel said that he could kill the lizard for him, but he had to have permission first. Finally the ghost gave him permission. After he killed the lizard it turned into a stallion and the ghost became a "bright person" and was able to continue the journey to heaven.

This may not make sense if you haven't read the book or don't understand C.S. Lewis' imaginative style. I enjoyed the narration and encourage you guys to look at the book if you have time.

Do I really need an MBA?!

This online thing is about to push me over the edge. I can't sign on to the WebCt despite having spoken to IS earlier today and getting things "straightened out." I can't buy a book for my class because the online bookstore website isn't working and I can't match the ISBN number on Amazon. I found the right title and edition, but it has a different ISBN number. I don't understand that. It is so much easier to do some of this stuff in person. I like the online thing in theory, but right now it's about to drive me up the wall.

Yummy s'mores! 

The family 

Playing Football 

My Big Fat Family Camping Trip

This weekend I was supposed to go camping with my family. And by family I mean Carrie, Paul, Christopher, Jenny,Jeremy, Charles, Mom, Dad, Uncle Mearle, Aunt Bonnie, Aunt Marie, Uncle Dale, Uncle Ronnie and his adopted kids, and my grandparents. That's a lot of family! Sadly we were rained out. Uncle Mearle was nice enough to invite us to his house for the weekend. So we "camped" at his place. It was a lot of fun. We had a bonfire and made smores and even attempted a hike. I brushed up on my football skills, which it turns out are not so swell right now! It was nice to all be together and we had a good time :)