Not a typical Sunday

A bunch of us from The Springs went down to Galveston this morning to help the aunt and uncle of Chris Garcia. They live in a one story house in a typical neighborhood you would see in any town- in other words, they don't have a wash-out level and they aren't on stilts like so many of the houses you've seen on the news since Hurricane Ike hit 3 weeks ago. The ocean tidal surge went through their house and filled it 3 feet deep. The city of Galveston just let residents come back to their homes this past Wednesday, so the carpets and drywall have not been touched in 2.5 weeks. While I knew all this before we got there, I still wasn't prepared for what we saw.



The area we live in, League City, has piles of foliage, such as tree limbs, on the curb of every house you pass. It's depressing because this normally green, lush area is brown and cluttered. There is a smattering of blue tarps on roofs to cover missing shingles, and there are a few other evidences of wind damage. Galveston is different.

The first thing I noticed was the boats, on the road. Literally. On the road. The water had risen up over the highway and pushed boats every which way. When the water receded, some of the boats stayed there, on the road. I didn't try to count, but I know there were at least 30 randomly deposited boats along the roadway.

The next thing I noticed was the lack of blue roof tarps. Granted- this was overshadowed by the fact that many roofs were flat on the ground, and no longer needed tarps. But there was no large display of roof damage that could be covered up with simple tarps. I also noticed that all of the shrubbery was standing, but brown. And most trees (other than palm trees) are also standing, and brown. Seems this is what happens when salt water gets in to the soil to such a degree that the fresh water is outnumbered. Salt water kills most plants.

Finally, the massive destruction of Ike is apparent in the things in the piles of debris sitting on the Galveston sidewalks. No tree limbs, but lots of refrigerators. And other major appliances. And carpet, drywall, armoires, side tables, kitchen tables, couches, chairs, paintings, books (so many books), mattresses. Simply everything that had once been INSIDE the houses was now OUTside the houses, waiting to be hauled away.

I could write about the specifics for pages and pages, but I want to mention three things that stood out to me. 1- it's all just stuff. When it is waterlogged and mildewed and rotten, that stuff that once seemed vital and important is just stuff to be placed on the curb and hauled away. 2- some of that stuff survived, and I watched one of the home owners we helped carefully wrap a ceramic hamburger in paper and place it in a box, to be placed in storage to some day be unwrapped and displayed again. A ceramic hamburger. Despite the devastation around her and the massive amounts of stuff she was tossing to the curb, she is still human and found importance in that hamburger. I almost asked her the significance of the ceramic piece, but left her to her own thoughts as she gently handled the trinket. I wondered what I would do with my trinkets. On this side of it, I think I would just toss it all. But that's easy for me to say as I sit here surrounded by all my stuff in perfect condition.

And 3- as we were leaving, I saw a tiny blond little girl walking through some of the debris holding her mother's hand. Stab to the heart. I cried for the first time that day when I thought about my kids, and what it would be like if I had to live with the destruction that they were living with. It's hard enough to walk down the street with my kids and keep them from picking up pretty rocks they find on the way. How much harder then to say "don't touch that" to EVERYTHING on the road? No electricity, probably no carpet, exposed beams in the house, very little furniture, if any.

I wish we could have stayed until it was finished, but that may be months from now. Please, if you can take time and go down to help someone, do it. If you can't, give to an organization set up to help those people. If you can't do that, pray for them. And take this opportunity to realize that the stuff in our lives is just stuff, that the only thing we can hold on to for sure through any storm is Jesus.

What a way to test a house!

While we may not like it all that much, it is easy to say that the best test of anything is a set of circumstances beyond our control and extreme conditions. They don't test seat belts at 5 mph, do they? No- they ram cars in to walls at over 60 mph and see what happens to the dummies inside! Would it do any good to test the exterior of the space shuttle with a Bic lighter, to make sure the tiles could withstand the heat of re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere? Hardly.
And I think about my marriage, and the things that have made us step back and say "We really are going to make it." Not the romantic dinners or weekends away from the kids. It was the job losses, the illnesses, and the ugly stuff.

So it seems to be with the house we are living in right now. We are currently renting it, but have wondered if the landlords would be willing to sell it to us this time next year. And after what it just went through, Hurricane Ike, I think we would be fools NOT to buy this house! There was minimal cosmetic damage to the fence and to the covered back porch, but no roof damage and no water anywhere! My friend snapped this picture yesterday and commented on how it seems nothing even happened. But if we could only see the house next door---

The kids and I are not back home yet, as there is still no power, and the schools are closed until at least Tuesday of next week. I can work here at my parents' house and they can play like it was summer vacation. Craig went back yesterday as his office reopened today. I can't even begin to express my thankfulness for our safety and the ease this "inconvenience" has been.

7 years!!!

Happy Birthday to you, dear Jonas! The world was a different place 7 years ago at 6:41 am. It would all change very soon, when at 5:40 pm Dr. Charles said "It's a boy!" and my first thought when I saw you was "He has Craig's nose!". I've since found out that you also have your Daddy's kind heart, sense of humor, fearlessness (on bikes) and natural athleticism. Unfortunately, you also have my temper, my stubborn streak, my blue eyes, and my unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Praise God you have already accepted Christ as your savior! You are such a miracle!

The world changed in many ways on 9/11/01, but the one that made the most difference in my life was the birth of Jonas Craig Himmelsehr! I love you, buddy.

An eternal perspective

Yesterday was kinda hard for me, but really good at the same time. At The Springs, we discussed eternity, and since I work with grade schoolers, we boiled it down to "I beleive I can live with God forever". We talked just a little bit about what that means, and what Heaven might be like. We had all the kids draw pictures of what they imagined the house God is preparing for them might look like. I found it amusing that they all included swimming pools! Several added animals and the girls mostly concentrated on beds and beautiful bedding. As an adult, my idea is a little different, but who's to say they aren't right?

Between now and then, we had a lot of fun with our Table Group last night. Just to quote a few of my favorite moments from the 2.5 hours we were together-
"I don't care if you get arrested, just don't get shot."
"We're going to get more guns and ammo."
"Back when I was a mosquito hunter..."
"Sidney's been shot!", "Is there blood?", "No.", "Blake- you go help her cuz I'm getting my nails done".

Don't you wish you could be here for these?

Sarah Palin

I'm watching her speech from last night at the RNC. Who would know she has never been on the national stage before? She is a talented and confident speaker. I like her. McCain has picked a great compliment to his personality. I like that she is a mom with all sorts of normal, and not so normal, mom problems! Good choice, McCain. It's as though he knew my internal struggle and my ho-hum feeling for him and said "those 30-something soccer/hockey moms out there will like her".

Just some thoughts.

Pray, vote, pray.

Carleigh's First day of pre-K

My house is so quiet right now, as it is just me and the cats! Carleigh started pre-K today, and was such a big girl. She grabbed her backpack and said "Let's go, Mom."

We walked in to the class and she immediately found another little girl and asked her if she could play with her. While some kids were crying, Carleigh didn't even think twice about going out on her own. My first thought was "What kind of my mom am I that she is already that independent?" and my best friend reminded me that it makes me a good mom. I hope so!