Katrina…three years later.

I won’t forget Katrina for the rest of my life because it changed my life forever.  My prayers are with those on the coast.  I thought I would share some of our pictures from the storm.

This picture here was taken by my son of a house on the beach in Pascagoula.  It is one of my favorites if you can have one because it teaches us to not let storms destroy us.  I’m thankful for the family that placed this sign up after losing so much.

 

 

 

 

This picture here was taken during the Hurricane.  This is the church that I pastored and it was .8 of a mile off of the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

This one was gives a different view.

 

 

 

 

In this picture you can see my house to the right.  We had a big mess insise waiting on us.

 

 

 

 

This here is a picture taken off of the front steps of our church.  That is Market Street towards the end of the storm.

 

 

 

This is a picture from the first Sunday after the hurricane.  Boy I miss those folks.  We went through a lot together.

 

 

 

 

 

This picture is of a volunteer from Virginia and represents all of the people who helped us get off of our feet.  Thanks.

The God Of Order

Well this past week I had a major milestone for this year.  I took and passed the last test required of me for my new venture in the world of insurance.  I was relieved but then all of a sudden I had some free thinking time to put a lot of different things into perspective.  What I have found is this whole new venture of insurance has been tougher than I ever imagined it to be.  On top of that I have found that some of my first pieces of business were written incorrectly.  I so much want my clients to be at ease in their minds.   Financially I’ve been under a greater strain than ever.  For some reason I’ve missed the pastorate more and more here lately.  My son is going through some challenges right now living life as a teenager.  My wife is going through some medical test in the next couple of days that she is not happy about.  Just a lot of stuff is all happening at once.

God is always good to give us the right word at the right time though. I’ve been teaching through the plagues in Exodus during our Sunday School time.  As I was teaching on the plague of the (gnats, fleas, lice) whatever you want to call it, I thouht about how God was using such a small creature to bring disorder and chaos into the lives of the Egyptians.  This is interesting because Pharaoh, who was worshipped as a god by the Egyptians, was believed to have the powers of bringing order out of chaos and yet he is helpless when it comes to these plagues.  Pharaoah fails in bringing order to his people.

What do we turn to for order in our lives?  We lean on jobs, people, and possessions many times.  Gosh I have learned over the past two years that those can be taken away from you so easily.  They will never bring you peace and order.  Instead they only give us a false sense of security.

What do we have?  We have Christ.  Colossians 1:16-17 (ESV)  says:  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Jesus Christ is who holds it all together.  Does this mean that my life is easier.  Absolutely not.  It means that my faith in Him can see me through all of this stuff that is happening to me.  The most important thing in my life is not that I can pay all of my bills, though that is important and I am doing that right now.  No, the most important item in my life is that I be conformed to Jesus Christ.  That is the order that He wishes to bring to me.  And in this process I believe that He will make life bearable.  Praise the Lord!

Now, have I got a firm grasp on this.  I wished.  I must confess that I allow Satan to take my eyes off of this and focus on the circumstances.  So I ask your prayers.  Please pray that I can get my own devotion down pat.

Just Laugh At Him

Yesterday I had just a horrible day.  At least in my mind’s eye.  This new business venture that I have been in has been to say the least an humbling experience.  Just when I think I’m getting a handle on things I get thrown a curve ball.  Well the curve ball came in yesterday on me.  And now it seems that my car is going on the fritz.  Each and every place that I turn something else happens it seems. And I’ve responded like any Christian man should…I’ve been down in the dumps.  No, that is NOT how a Christian man should respond.

This morning my wife hit me with a verse that she found in her devotional.  Here is what it said, “The Lord has made me glad.  I will laugh at my enemies.”  She didn’t just hit me with it once.  She said that to me every time I got within hearing distance of her and she even text it back to me when she got to work.  OK I get the message.  My gladness comes from the Lord and not from my circumstances.  Because of that I can just laugh at my enemy. 

So Satan I laugh at you.  Nice try there trying to get me down and disccouraged.  Ha ha ha ha.  Take that!  Your so funny.   Don’t you know that I belong to another and He makes me glad.