We had some small damage at the church but what intrigued me most was the damage to our sign.  God is an amazing God and finds small ways to speak to people.  Before the storm, the sign read, “Let God calm the storms in your life.”  Our sign was battered for ten hours with winds of 65 mph or more, yet not one letter was missing.  The sign was twisted and mangled but the message stayed the same.  God always calms the storms.

We have now been home 4 days without power and although it has been challenging there are some good things I have noticed about the after effects of Hurricane Ike. 

1.  Life has slowed down tremendously, so our family time has increased.  There are few places open.  We are spending more time at home together.  If we go anywhere, we all go together.  It has been a good bonding time.  When one of us is in the dark, we all are in the dark.  When one of us is hot, we are all hot.  We all sleep in the same room right now.  It has been fun!  How often, it seems that we, in America, have so much to do, that our families suffer from a lack of time together.  I have enjoyed these last few days together with Sonya and the kids.  We are all growing closer together.

2.  There are many wonderful people who live in this great nation of ours.  Many people do not get to see first hand the charitable and hard-working people who volunteer in our nation.  After a Hurricane, people flood our communities to help hand out groceries, ice and water.  They help clean up yards, roof houses, trim trees and lend a helping hand.  They do all of this without seeking anything in return.  This is what true love looks like.  This morning on our street there were several people going house to house, cleaning up the yards.  They were there to help even while the home owners are still evacuated.  The Baptist Men, Maps, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Convoy of Hope and many other organizations share the love of God through service during these times of hardship.

3.  Neighbors help neighbors after times of tragedy.  I have watched our neighborhood work together in many different ways.  In America we tend to live in our own little bubbles and do not interact much with our neighbors.  The foundation of Christianity is to love God and to love our neighbors.  Until the church returns to this principle we will never shape our nation.  It is interesting to me, how my neighbors, who are not all believers, help each other out while we in the church are too busy going to church, that we never interact with our fellow man.  We should endeavor to take time to interact and love our neighbors as ourselves.

4.  I never knew I could miss church so much.  I love church, but when I cannot go I miss it so much more.  Most of our church members are still out of town.  It feels kind of lonesome knowing they are gone.  We must learn to appreciate the church and attend regularly.  You never know how much you miss it until you can’t go.

There are many of our church members who are still gone.  We pray for your safe journey home.  All of Beaumont, Mid-County and Port Arthur are still out of power.  I would love to hear from you, email me at danny@agonline.org.  Our phone service has been spotty, but you can try my cell phone.  Otherwise, email me. The emails go to my Blackberry (cell phone).  You can also comment on this blog by clicking the comment button below.  I would like to hear if you have damage or when you have returned or are planning to return home.  We love you guys.

We will meet Sunday morning at 10:30am at the Sanctuary Building.  This Sunday there will only be a morning service and no Sunday School.

As I went to sleep last night and since we are still without electricity, I began to think of things that I was thankful for in the midst of the after effects of Hurricane Ike:

I am thankful we had a home to come back to. Many people lost everything.

I am thankful that we had a cold front that is keeping us cool at night while we are without A/C.

I am thankful for a generator that allows us some light inside the house and the ability to plug into our internet for a little while.

I am thankful for a gas water heater that allows us to take hot showers and for the gas stove where we can at least cook.

I am thankful that we have water and sewer.

I am thankful for all the people who are providing resources in our community. Market Basket and HEB are giving out free ice and water.  The American Red Cross and other organizations are also helping with the relief efforts.

I am thankful for all of the Entergy personnel working long hours to restore our power.

I am thankful for all of the military, fire and police officers who are keeping us safe and helping with the needs of our communities.

I am thankful that this is only temporary.  Many people in other nations do not have the privilege to live as we do in America.  It is times like these that we learn to count our blessings.

God is good.

We made it back home last night after being evacuated for Hurricane Ike.  Our area has a lot of damage that is typical for hurricanes.  There are alot of trees down, carports scattered and fences down, but that is the majority of damage for Mid-County.  We know that some people have major damage but Nederland was spared.  Our house had almost no damage at all.  A little water got in the back door but that is easy to fix.  The church lost its big awning in the front, also a little siding and some water came through a window but that is all.  We praise the Lord for helping us through the storm.  We still have no power and it could be off for a little while.  We are not sure when we will have it back. Overall we are thankful for God’s protection.

Now it is time to wait.  The first pictures are coming out about damage in our area.  Bridge City is under water, as well as Orange.  Nederland photos show some damage to Philpott motors and the Old Fellowship Baptist building on 27th.  Moderate wind damage to say the least.  There is nothing like seeing pictures of significantwind damage and then wondering about our own house and church.  Memories of Hurricane Rita are pretty fresh in my memory.  The  aftermath and clean-up from Rita reminds me of the blood, sweat and tears we had after we returned home.  There is an anxious feeling about what to expect when you get back.  You hope for the best but brace for the worst.

The worst part of the whole process is the feeling of displacement.  Although we are at our families house, we are still not at home.  We would go back to Houston to wait it out with my parents so we could be closer to home, but Houston is still reeling from the storm.  Not to mention, my parents had a tree limb fall through their roof and rain poured into one of the rooms.  Power in all of our communities will be off for at least a week.  We anxiously await the approval to come home.

I wonder what it was like for the Israelites to “wander” in the wilderness for 40 years with no place to call home.  We are going on a week and I am ready to find “home” again.  All in all, this is kind of a picture of the believer’s life on earth.  This earth is not our true home.  We are only pilgrims and sojourners going through a temporary land.  This life is temporary and we wait for a permanent home in Heaven.  A believer should at times feel displaced in this life, because we know that we have yet to find our true home.

It has been a while since I have been able to write.  We do not have internet in Oklahoma.  We came to the city and I parked in a hotel parking lot that has Wi-Fi.  Reports from home are good for Mid-County.  Not a lot of major damage but the power is out as well as sewer.  Entergy has estimated 3 weeks to restore power.  Our prayer is that it will come on sooner.  We also pray for the area communities of Port Arthur, Sabine Pass and Orange County who were hardest hit.

If you would like to contact us by email, I can receive mail on my blackberry at danny@agonline.org.  You can also call me on my cell phone.  We hope to see all of you soon.

It is 5:50am and we are heading out.  We have a long drive ahead of us.  Please pray for our safe travel.  I will be disconnecting from the blogosphere (blogging) for a week.  I know that it will be hard for you to not read the life of a pastor for that long.  I am sorry for the inconvenience. May I suggest that if you need something to read try a book on Geocentricity and Physics.  I am sure it will be enlightening:)  Have great week!

When we evacuated last week, we had the opportunity to spend some time with my family.  We stayed at my mom and dad’s house and it gave them alot of time to spend with Josh and Hannah.  It was a good time together with them.  As a pastor it is hard to get away for the weekend because we are usually getting ready for Sundays. 

So it is with our family reunion.  They are usually on Sundays so it is hard to go to them.  I made my first family reunion since pastoring (12 years).  One of our cousins, on the Berman side of my family, had a reunion at her house.  I could make no more excuses, I had to finally go to a family reunion. 

I remember how great family reunions were as a kid.  We got to run around and play, but as we got older it became more awkward.  After marriage, you tend to grow apart from your extended family until eventually you hardly know one another.  I am a people person, but even this scenario is tough.  I am a Christian pastor, at a family reunion for a predominately Jewish family.  Guess who is the odd man out?  My grandfather was a Messianic Jew and my grandmother was a Gentile who loved God.  It was great to talk with my uncles and some of the other family and hear the impact my grandparents made on them.  The legacy of a man who was not afraid to live for Christ, even when much of the family shunned him.  Now, later in life, they testify of how good a man he was.

All in all, it was a good family reunion.  I enjoyed it! I am glad I went.  There is another family reunion coming in the future.  It will happen when we get to Heaven and are reunited with those who have gone before us.  The truth about Heaven is, there will be no feelings of awkwardness.  We will all be there for the same reason.  We are a part of the family of God.  It will be a time of rejoicing and a time to see the splendor of God’s glory. 

It will be a sweet time, but there are some who will make excuses not to be there.  They do not want to be a part of the family.  They choose to walk their own way.  If you have not made the decision to follow Jesus and be a part of His family, do it today.  Follow Him!  The Gospel of John declares that if we believe in Christ, He gives us the right to be called the children of God.

P.S.  Speaking of family reunions, we are going on vacation.  We will see Sonya’s side of the family.  I will be taking a break from blogging for a week.  I will catch up next Friday.