Lindsay's best friend Colton came home from college and surprised her with a mum for her Senior Homecoming. If I can get the picture off my phone, I'll add that in as well because he totally shocked her as he showed up at the parade with the mum in tow. I snapped a pic and her face is priceless. I don't know what she enjoyed more; the mum or getting to hang out with Colton :)
Valerie helping with the awkward pinning ;)
Some of my favorite people ever have October birthdays; my brother, my second mother, my grandmother and Courtney.
This week Nanny and Courtney celebrate their birthdays again in the presence of their Savior, and even though I miss them more than usual this week, the thought of Who they're with brings me more joy than I can explain.
Nanny and Courtney were friends in this life and I'm so happy they are friends in their next life as well. I love you both. Happy Birthday!
My friend Dionne has a cute little girl named Emma and Emma is always saying funny things. Dionne posts the sayings to her blog and calls them Emma-isms. In that spirit, I have a Peyton-ism from this weekend:
Peyton and I are in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. Lindsay comes into the kitchen wearing a new outfit and says "Mom, does this look dumb?" And I say, "You know we have a special alarm that goes off in this house if somebody tries to walk out of here looking dumb. I don't hear an alarm, so you must be looking good." Lindsay smiles and turns to walk away. She turns back around and says, "What about my hair?" and Peyton goes "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!"
Sarcasm is alive and well in the White house ;)
TBM Feeding Unit. They cook 3 meals a day for the victims and for the clean up volunteers
This is the tent belonging to our Association. When it's fully set up, it's roughly 1800 sq ft in size.
And when we put the "walls" up and tarp the floor, it will sleep up to 40 people a night comfortably. The tent is still in use in San Leon, so we have 2 five ton air conditioners to keep it cool for those who use it each day.
Our team set this up since no clean water existed in San Leon for days. It's a make-shift shower for residents and volunteers ;)
And speaking of make shift, since San Leon Community Church was the only facility left standing in that community, it quickly became the hub for the people of the community. The bathrooms in the church were wiped out, so we built a new temporary one. I don't know about having it near a table though, ick...
San Leon Community Church had 5 feet (!) of water standing in it after the Hurricane blew through. Our clean out team and other teams from around the State had to pull up floors, pull down sheet rock and pull out furniture up to one foot above the flood line.
Here are supplies that just started showing up! Red Cross, TBM or disaster relief teams from all over the country were so grateful we were taking care of a few small communities no one had gotten to yet. So these organizations would essentially drive in, drop off supplies, and head over to the next town knowing we were taking care of the distribution of the supplies for them.
These are some of our team members. Bob C. is in the center and he's one of my favorite people :) He works so tirelessly on our Clean Out and Chainsaw Units. Bob has 5 hurricanes, 2 ice storms, 2 house fires, a police standoff and countless flooding relief efforts under his belt, and that's in less than 2 years time. He has such a tender heart too. He's so effective in ministering to people who are hurting from whatever disaster or trauma he's there to serve the victims of.
Our Box Unit members helped at this church. I think the message says it all...despite the destruction, God is still good.
This is my favorite ministry we have. What the man in the picture is pinning up on his wall is packing paper. When we deploy our Box Unit, we take boxes and packing paper to help folks pack up what is left of their belongings. Our Box Unit leader, Cindy, had a great idea to give packing paper to area churches and let the children of those churches decorate the paper with encouraging words, pictures and scripture. Cindy has taken the decorated paper out on 3 disaster relief call outs since early summer, and each time the reaction is so amazing. Most people won't use the paper because they love the drawings and encouraging words too much. This man, a resident near League City, broke down and wept that children hours away took the time to let him know Jesus loves him. He hung this picture on his wall as a reminder.
The fact that we can help clean up after a disaster is a service we're proud to be a part of, but this right here is why we do what we do...to love on people and let them know God loves them even more.
I have tons more photos, but I gotta get back to work ;) I'll post more soon. And if you're interested in supporting our efforts, shoot me an email and I'll tell you how you can help.
This is a restaurant near Steph's place and I got a kick out it. And yes, my Dane is a saint for putting up with me all these years ;)
The destruction from Hurricane Ike was pretty evident once we got closer to downtown. But I was floored at how quickly Houston is cleaning up after such wide-spread destruction and flooding
Katy, Texas. Home to the GREATEST outlet mall ever. It was here we did our part to stimulte Houston's economy ;) But I-10 was one lane all the way there. What should have been a 20 minute drive took almost 2 hours. Thanks Ike.
My sister is crazy about elephants so I snapped this of she and mom in front of the Rainforest Cafe
Like I said, we ate well. Steph and Greg took us to this amazing Jewish deli called Kenny and Ziggy's. This piece of chocolate/white chocolate cake was so enormous, all four of us split it and still had some left over
And it was AMAZING! If you're ever in Houston, I highly recommend Kenny and Ziggy's. It's also strategically located near the Galleria and walking distance from DSW Shoes and the Container Store. Woo hoo!
Mom's authentic Rueben sandwich. I can't describe how good it was!
We wanted to pull over and get a proper picture of Sam Houston, but traffic was a little brisk ;) So here's an action shot ;)
My blogger friend Amanda had this to say recently on her site. It's profound and moving and I hope you'll take time to stop and pray for the people we lost in the coastal part of our state and remember we have a rescuer who never forgets us and never will leave us...
"The National Weather Center issued the stern warning to those living on the coast: 'Those living in one or two-story single family homes must evacuate or face certain death.' It was debated whether the wording was too dramatic. For some, maybe it was, but the words were sadly appropriate for what may amount to hundreds of others. Unbelievably large numbers of people did not heed the warning. They wanted to stay with their homes and be able to protect their belongings after the storm. What they didn't consider was that there would be nothing left to save, regardless of their presence. The hurricane would not make landfall until Saturday, but they didn't plan on the storm surge reaching the coast as early as Friday afternoon. With the sun still shining, the gulf waters began overtaking Bolivar Peninsula, making a last minute evacuation impossible for hundreds of people. They drank in the sight of water covering the roadways and were forced to swallow the bitter pills of regret and dread. They called for help, but only a fraction could be rescued before the winds became too strong for the helicopters. They called their loved ones and said, "I made a mistake. I'm really in trouble here." They were helpless. And their loved ones are left traumatized. Emergency operators would receive countless calls for help during the storm. They would not be able to offer any hope. It was too late. In complete and utter darkness, people were swept to sea in their own homes. Their broken, swollen bodies are currently being recovered all along the coast amid debris, alligators, water moccasins, and swarms of mosquitoes. The Houston Chronicle reports that hundreds of people are unaccounted for. You can go to their web site and search the names and faces of missing fathers, mothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sons and daughters. It is horrifying. "
"...My friends, the good news is that we still have time to call the Emergency Operator and ask to be saved. While the Bible says that we deserve death, it also says "But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). We can call upon Jesus to save us - from ourselves and from the unquenchable fire of hell that is eager to overtake us all. There is a way out, but there is only one way. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Call on Jesus."Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens." (Hebrews 7:25-26)Jesus made a way for us to be saved when He came to earth and lived a perfect life. He was fully man and at the same time fully God. He was completely without sin. He laid down His life for us while we were still doing everything wrong and spitting in His face. He loved us that much. He was tortured, then nailed to a cross and died. On that cross He bore the wrath of God for all of humanity's sin. He suffered and died in our place. He was resurrected on the third day and appeared to many men. This is one of the most well documented facts in history. All of time revolves around His resurrection. At this moment He sits on a throne in Heaven next to God. He waits for us to call upon Him for salvation, to surrender our lives to Him, to put our hope and trust in Him. Romans 9:10-12 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'" He waits with open arms for the Saved, the Forgiven, the Rescued to enter into the splendor of an eternity with Him. There, the foundation is solid and there is no fear. There is only joy and the fulfillment of every need of your immortal soul in the presence of the One who created you. Just like the hundreds of people who died needlessly when they did not heed the evacuation orders on the coast, we will suffer in hell needlessly if we do not take Jesus Christ up on His offer of salvation. What? You think you don't deserve to be rescued? Well no one does. It is all by grace, no matter how "good" you seemed or how "bad" you were. What? You want to stay in your house and protect all that you've gathered for yourself on this earth? It will all be destroyed anyway. What? Your husband won't go with you? You'd rather stay behind with him and ride it out? How foolish. Take your children and go. Call upon His name before it is too late. Hurricane Hell is in the gulf. It is churning. It will certainly make landfall for each of us, but we are not given a forecast. We do not know when it will hit, but we do know that it brings with it "certain death." Will we say the warning is too stern? Or will we call upon the Savior and be rescued?"
