remembering the disastrous trail left by Katrina, and the continuing efforts to bring restoration...


I noticed on facebook this morning, that a friend of mine posted a picture of himself on a mountaintop in Colorado, where the wildfires are burning out of control behind him. His gleeful expression, stands in intentional contrast to the raging fire behind him.

Disasters remind me of Katrina.

Deanna and I often speak of it, as we were in the hospital with BJ, before the storm hit, and heard about little else afterwards. In some strange ways, our own journey was washed aside as the plight of thousands faced uncertainty.

We knew that our own situation, regardless of how it ended, was secure. We were being held in the hands of our Father. Where did these others have to turn?

Those who have lived through wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, or other natural disasters, are faced with the question of what do you take when you flee?

I have often contemplated this question. I don't know why.

Do you take family photos and scrapbooks? Do you take items that are the object of your affection? Do you gather important papers together? Favorite clothes? What would you grab, with moments to decide?

I think the answer to this question says a lot about our focus in life.

No doubt, there have been many things that have captured my attention through the years. Some innocent, until I give them unhealthy attention. Then there are the things that I don't want to have to do without, under any circumstances.

What are these things in each of our lives?

Obviously, the first thing is to see that all family members are accounted for. What's next?

I always wonder how I'd really respond under this kind of pressure? Moments to decide, knowing that as you walk/run away, you may never recover what is left behind.

For me, the consistent thought in my head has been to grab my favorite Bible. It was given to me by my family... Deanna, Lauren, Whitney and BJ, on my birthday in 1994... just a couple months after my father passed away.

My views on death changed through the course of his home going. That journey and this Bible, have received much of my attention through the years.

This Word is where I am most at home. I have studied, marked and taken notes on these pages more than any other I have owned... (even more than the one given to Elijah Ajaang in Kenya).

I remember back around the time I received this Bible, a friend had his favorite stolen... from church.

Like mine, he had it marked up and his notes were throughout.

There is something about knowing exactly where to turn in your own Bible, that brings comfort... comfort that sometimes I might ought to lose.

Being challenged to know where to find His hidden treasures based on being "at home" in His Word over having topics captured because of smudges and uncharacteristic markings is important for each of us.

That way, I could take your Bible and find the same things, regardless of what extras are stuffed into yours.

We are a society of comforts. We like them a lot!

No pursuits are as profitable as being intimate with Jesus and being comfortable in His Word!


dad