You never know how much you really miss something until it is taken away from you for a while. This is the way that we felt upon returning to our little glorified dorm room, otherwise known as the Econo Lodge. Yesterday (Saturday, September 20) the city of Port Arthur lifted the mandatory evacuation at 6am. So I was able to talk Anissa into ridding with me back to take a peek at the damages. She was hesitant since she had just got back from California at 7:30pm the night before and I wanted to leave by 6:30am in case there was traffic.
While driving (and as Anissa slept) I saw a lot of damage between Houston and Port Arthur. It really brought back memories of what the gulf coast looked like after hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. Since the ocean water came on land, many fields that had cattle & crops were flooded, therefore, I had to take an alternate route into town because HWY 73 (that we normally take) had roaming cows on it looking to stay dry (lol). When we arrived in Port Arthur, we found that the Econ Lodge and our “glorified dorm room” were fine. The building only lost a few pieces of siding and roof shingles and the fence around the pool blew down. They even went into everyone’s room to clean out their refrigerator so that people would not come back to a stinky room or a moldy fridge. We also received electricity early that morning. After checking out Port Arthur, we drove to Beaumont, where Anissa works. They had electricity, but the building had a few windows blow out. As for the rest of Beaumont’s downtown, glass covered many of the streets due to the windows being blown out of other buildings. Finally, we left back to Cypress, where we were staying for the week, so that we could rest, get our luggage and come in this morning.
Once again, we left at 6:30am, so that we could try to beat the incoming traffic back into the city. Also once again, Anissa slept as I drove in to the city. If you have not already figured out, Anissa loves to sleep. Sleep is her favorite pass-time (lol). We got back in town just in time to change and make it to a local church service near the edge of town. The service was just what I (we) needed. I was so excited to go to a church service and worship with other followers of Christ, that I wanted to skip showering, but I thought that might curse the saints rather than bless them!!!! After the church service, they fed everyone breakfast and we went grocery shopping and are home safely getting things back in order. There is also a mandatory curfew where no one can be out & about from 8pm-5am, except restoration workers.
On a side note, things have been so crazy since we left Grand Rapids that I know God is about to do something. I got a vision for a community outreach that I will tell you about in a later blog, but it is going to be HOTT!!! Anissa and I have been through so much transition, that I am not even sure that I would recognize what normal was, if it looked me in the eyes (I was told that this is what ministry is). Therefore, please pray with us for the following:
1) The catching up of “church starting” work
2) Hope & Encouragement for the devastated communities & residents
3) A second vehicle for Anissa & I
4) Our house in Grand Rapids to sell
5) The finding of a nice house in Texas
6) That the love of Christ will bless all who continue to pray for the work that He has sent us here to do.
Love the Eddies, servants of Christ!
PS These pictures are at our hotel and around Port Arthur - damage was minimal
While driving (and as Anissa slept) I saw a lot of damage between Houston and Port Arthur. It really brought back memories of what the gulf coast looked like after hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. Since the ocean water came on land, many fields that had cattle & crops were flooded, therefore, I had to take an alternate route into town because HWY 73 (that we normally take) had roaming cows on it looking to stay dry (lol). When we arrived in Port Arthur, we found that the Econ Lodge and our “glorified dorm room” were fine. The building only lost a few pieces of siding and roof shingles and the fence around the pool blew down. They even went into everyone’s room to clean out their refrigerator so that people would not come back to a stinky room or a moldy fridge. We also received electricity early that morning. After checking out Port Arthur, we drove to Beaumont, where Anissa works. They had electricity, but the building had a few windows blow out. As for the rest of Beaumont’s downtown, glass covered many of the streets due to the windows being blown out of other buildings. Finally, we left back to Cypress, where we were staying for the week, so that we could rest, get our luggage and come in this morning.
Once again, we left at 6:30am, so that we could try to beat the incoming traffic back into the city. Also once again, Anissa slept as I drove in to the city. If you have not already figured out, Anissa loves to sleep. Sleep is her favorite pass-time (lol). We got back in town just in time to change and make it to a local church service near the edge of town. The service was just what I (we) needed. I was so excited to go to a church service and worship with other followers of Christ, that I wanted to skip showering, but I thought that might curse the saints rather than bless them!!!! After the church service, they fed everyone breakfast and we went grocery shopping and are home safely getting things back in order. There is also a mandatory curfew where no one can be out & about from 8pm-5am, except restoration workers.
On a side note, things have been so crazy since we left Grand Rapids that I know God is about to do something. I got a vision for a community outreach that I will tell you about in a later blog, but it is going to be HOTT!!! Anissa and I have been through so much transition, that I am not even sure that I would recognize what normal was, if it looked me in the eyes (I was told that this is what ministry is). Therefore, please pray with us for the following:
1) The catching up of “church starting” work
2) Hope & Encouragement for the devastated communities & residents
3) A second vehicle for Anissa & I
4) Our house in Grand Rapids to sell
5) The finding of a nice house in Texas
6) That the love of Christ will bless all who continue to pray for the work that He has sent us here to do.
Love the Eddies, servants of Christ!
PS These pictures are at our hotel and around Port Arthur - damage was minimal
2 comments:
Hey, guys! I'm so glad to hear you're doing well and most everything is in tact!
I can't wait to hear about the ministry idea, Jermale!
glad you're back at home!
hey, i tagged you on my blog but play along only if you want to :)
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