Hurricane Ike Has Come and Gone...

My family and I are present and accounted for. We arrived home from Dallas (In Coppell...Yes, Clayton, I thought about you and would have called but don't have the number) just a short while ago after being gone since Friday morning.

We made the decision to leave after watching the news and deciding that hurricane Ike wasn't going to do what Rita did at the last minute and turn. Thankfully, we had relatives up in Dallas ready and willing to let us stay there as long as needed. So, my parents, my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew, Tazzie (our dog) and myself left Huntsville early Friday morning and "hunkered down" in Coppell.

The hurricane made landfall at 2:10 a.m. Saturday morning in Galveston and came through Huntsville as a Category One hurricane around four. Our neighbors across the street kept us updated on things with our house and how things were around town. We were glued to the news channel in Coppell (which had been gracious enough to allow channel 11 news from Houston to do continuous coverage of the storm/aftermath). So thankfully, we were able to stay up to date through that as well.

As we were coming home this morning, we passed 56 AT&T trucks all headed south and 21electrical trucks headed the same direction. It brought tears to my eyes knowing that they were headed to help people in such great need. And it was especially moving because as we were seeing these convoy's the song "Home" by Blake Shelton was playing on the radio and I was thinking about all the people who wished they could go home!

I was surprised how much we DIDN'T see as we came into town...Sure there were trees down here and there and yes, the lines at the gas stations (those that have gas) are forever long but I was expecting more. Well, when we turned down our street...We got more. It looks like a war zone. Trees down on houses, yards are a mess, trees on power lines. It's unbelievable! There is NO DOUBT whatsoever that God had an army of angels surrounding our house and that His Hand was over our house and us during this time...Here's a few reasons why:

* A tree of our neighbor's fell across our driveway. It missed our house AND my dad's truck by six inches.

* We are one of the few residents that have power in our neighborhood. We were originally told it could be out for as long as four weeks. It was restored last night.

* None of the stuff in our refrigerator or freezer spoiled.

* Besides a mess in the front yard and the tree that fell, that was the only damage we sustained.

We were not lucky. We were BLESSED. God's gracious Hand was and is upon my family. My sister and her family are still without power but they had no damage to their house and are just dealing with things in the yard.

Thank you SO SO SO much to those of you who sent texts and made phone calls to make sure I was okay. Darenee, Kim, and Kristi, you guys are THE BEST. There's a reason you guys are called my best friends and I know a couple of you were being hit with this as well and to get texts from you and phone calls meant so much. Thank you for the concern and for the constant friendship even in the midst of madness.

Please continue to pray for those affected by Hurricane Ike. Darenee, I know you were hit especially hard. I love you and I'm praying constantly for you guys. If you need me, please call me.

Thank you once again for you all concern and prayers. We are here. We are safe. And we are so so SO thankful.