Thursday, September 23, 2004

My brother managed to get us pictures of our home yesterday.



There is little left. It is mainly a shell.



It is not as bad as we had heard it was, but it is bad enough to prevent us from occupying it. I understand too that mold has overtaken our homes, since they spent time under water. And the looters have come as well we hear.

We're going back, though we have nowhere to sleep. I pray for God's provision.

Monday, September 20, 2004

We FINALLY heard about OUR house. My neighbor's son called a few minutes ago. He was standing in front of our "house".

It was as we expected, pretty much. I wanted a new roof, but it looks like the roof survived, lol. However, it is supported by beams. The walls are pretty much blown out. Inside it looks like a bomb went off. We are told our home is "totalled." The destruction appears to be mainly from water, and flood damage is excluded by our homeowner's policy. We had additional flood coverage, but it was pretty basic and does not cover anything but the basic structure. Don, our neighbor's son, thought the remains of our home would need to be bull-dozed and construction would have to start over. There are no repairs for what he saw. He didn't think we could salvage anything.

He did say the basic structure of the kids swingset survived and I praise God for that!!! That provided good "occupational therapy" to Gregory and it will be easier to replace the slides rather than the whole thing - I hope.

God is good and our trust is in Him.

The kids are struggling with the news. We tried to prepare them, but they are devastated.

An elderly lady here in Michigan, where we have found refuge this past week, makes quilts for missions and she gave us 4 of them. I told the kids the making of these quilts was appointed by God for them, for just this time, and that He knew we would need them. I told the children that Jesus wanted to hug them and that whenever they wrapped themselves in their quilts, they were receiving a hug from the Lord. They are both just laying on the floor, wrapped up in their quilts. We all needed those hugs.

So many times over the last few days I have wanted to run back to Gulf Breeze and scrounge through the mud to try to salvage our stuff. However, the Lord keeps whispering to my heart that He will provide and that I should look up instead; He doesn't want us grubbing in the mud for scraps. We have received such an outpouring of hope, prayers, offers of help and encouragement that we are completely overwhelmed. God is so good!

I don't know what the future holds, but we feel so loved by so many and are trusting like children in the strength of our Heavenly Father as He works through the wonderful people He has brought into our lives. Thank you all of you who help sustain us!

Tomorrow we will try to get closer to home. Emergency management is still asking that we not return yet if we don't have to return. So we are headed for North Carolina and our dear friend Deb Stanton who has taken it upon herself to coordinate help for us. We are so blessed!

Friday, September 17, 2004

Thank you everyone who has been with us in prayer and in encouragement as we have dealt with Ivan. The best information we can get is that our home is utterly destroyed. We have apparently lost everything. Nothing is left but debris and water. The damage to my neighborhood is so severe that no one can get in. The few people who have managed to get close report complete devastation on Bay Street, where my home once stood. For details see: Pensacola News Journal.

We took refuge at Serenity Farms, a wonderful place with corriedale sheep and a serene feel. But, within a day or two we will head back to Gulf Breeze where we will step into the role of 18th century settlers. I do not know when I will be able to travel once again to my much loved cyber-world.

We lost everything. There is insurance for the structure so we will rebuild. But, the contents are uninsured. Please, please pray for us for the long term. For it is in the strength of the Lord, and by Him alone, we stand and face our tomorrows. . .

Monday, September 13, 2004

Well, we are evacuating due to hurricane Ivan. We are leaving tomorrow and heading north. We hope to return and find our house where we left it sometime next week. Please keep us in your prayers!

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

When it comes to my "working with my hands" time, I feel positively adhd. I tend to jump from project to project and from craft to craft. Recently I have been weaving, almost obsessively. I'm still working with the warp Caroline helped me get on my small loom.



As much as I am grateful for the wonderful gift the Lord gave me with this small loom, working on it makes me even more grateful for the large loom He provided this summer! I will be glad when the house cools down a bit and it will be comfortable enough to work on the Leclerc! The small loom is "rickety" making it challenging to get an even beat and the rust, though now gone from the reeds, made them rough. I am CONSTANTLY breaking warp threads! What a pain! But I can easily fix a broken warp thread at this point, at least one close to the side.



The loose and hanging off-white threads are broken warp. They are scattered throughout my weaving.

The loom was warped for several 30 inch long towels. I just started towel number 3. You can see the towels rolled up on the front roller thingy. Each towel is a different pattern.



My selvedges still need LOTS of work. The right side is much better than the left side and I cannot figure out why.

I also started weaving the shawl on my tri-loom.



This shawl is supposed to be for my sister Mary. But I'm starting to wonder whether I will be able to part with it, lol. I don't know of anyone who has attempted to weave a complicated pattern with a tri-loom and not being a weaver or spinner, I don't know if my sister could possibly appreciate it as much as I think she should. I'll have to see. And she is allergic to my dog and there has got to be dog hair in the shawl somewhere. . .

The weaving will probably take a very long time since the pattern is complicated and time consuming anyway.



You can see the diamond pattern taking shape. The yarn in the warp and in the weft is handspun. I must admit, it is pretty cool watching the pattern form!