4 posts from September 2008

I'm currently typing this blog from my living room with my laptop plugged in, the ceiling fan on, the a/c working, and the wireless internet working.  I'm doing all of that while watching the Florida vs. Miami game.  Yes, I HAVE POWER! My power was restored at approximately 4:45 PM today.  It was a little over six days without power.  Please be in prayer for all the people in Baton Rouge who have yet to get power.  Many people are not expected to have power for another 2-3 weeks.  Also, please pray that Hurricane Ike steers clear of this area.  I really don't want to go through all of this stuff again.  

I still don't have power, but I talked to the power company today in the neighborhood, and they said we should have power by 12:00 PM tomorrow.  I'm so grateful for friends in LSU dorms that let me use their internet.  Thankfully, the temperature tonight is really nice, so I shouldn't stick to myself while sleeping.  Only other new news is that our church's second location is going to be closed Sunday due to damage from the storm.  We will still have two services at the campus location like normal except for the fact that there is no power.  Pray that our ministries would remain unified during tough circumstances.  Finally, the video that I promised you yesterday is too big to upload to my blog (sorry).  

This is the first time I've been on the internet since Gustav knocked out my power on Monday (9/1) at exactly 12:00 PM.  I would love to say that I'm using my own internet, but I'm actually using my friend's internet at a dorm on LSU's campus.  Good news though...my roommate just called me and said a power company truck was outside our house right now.  If you haven't watched the news lately, Gustav wreaked havoc in Louisiana.  I can't speak for the entire state, but Baton Rouge was hammered.  I've spent the last couple of days riding around neighborhoods, moving trees, tarping roofs and sleeping on various couches, and I'm amazed by the devastation each day.  However, I've been extremely blessed over the past few days.  My house had very minor damage compared to most people.  I lost several shingles off my roof, but I had several friends help me tarp the spots today (Thanks David, Kyle, Ben and Jonathan).  Another blessing was the fact that someone gave me a FEMA tarp that was HUGE!  I didn't have to wait in line at Home Depot for 6 hours (yes, 6 hours) to get one.  Due to the massive tarp, I was able to tarp my neighbor's (who I've been trying to serve in order to share the Gospel with one day), roof too.  Please pray for Jose and his family.  The guys also helped me clean up my yard which had several downed limbs which took down my telephone line.  After tarping both of our roofs, we covered my other neighbor's back window on her car which was shattered by a fallen limb.  Her name is Lisha, and she's not a believer either.  Please pray for her and her family too.  Thankfully, we still had a ton of tarp left to take to a team from our church which has been going around to various neighborhoods, cutting trees and patching holes in roofs.  Now that my house is cleaned up for the most part, I'm going to be able to focus fully on other people.  Tomorrow, myself and a team of guy youth leaders are heading to Erica's grandparents to clean up their yard, since her grandpa can't walk very well.  Take care of the people who can't take care of themselves!  It's biblical!  Read this passage.  It's meant so much to me over the past few months.  Okay, that's it for now.  I'll try to update you more over the next few days.  Until then, tell everyone you know that I'm fine and check out the pictures below of my house as well as a video I took from my camera during the storm.

Gustav has made landfall, and Baton Rouge is beginning to feel its effects.  I woke up at 9:00 AM to some gusty winds, small limbs and leaves on the lawn, and a lot of rain.  The massive amounts of rain that will continue are the major scare for me.  I'm thankfully not in a flood zone, but Baton Rouge seems to flood a lot without a hurricane.  I'll try and keep you updated throughout the day.