My fishing trip with Craig was cancelled today, because my youngest son was running a fever this morning and did not go to school. I stayed with him.

I worked out well for me. I only slept about three hours yesterday after my last night of graveyard and got to bed late last night. I was very tired. So when my son had to stay home. He and I both went back to bed and I slept to 10:30. That was some much needed rest.

Craig did call and tell me that the fishing was very good and he brought home ten white perch (sac-au-lait). Hopefully I will get to make a fishing trip before I go back to work again.

I did get some work on the garage done. I started culling the siding boards that were torn off by the tree falling on it. I replaced a number of those boards today. I will but as many as I can up, so I can determine how many I need to buy. It is cedar siding, so they are not cheap. I want to salvage as much as I can.

I’m now sitting in front of the computer with a glass of wine (pinot noir) and will start paying bills next.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I am working my last night of graveyards and will be starting vacation. Craig Cudd and I are supposed to be going fishing for sac-au-lait (also known a white perch, or if your a Yankee, crappie) on Thursday.

After that I hope to spend most of the rest of the time I have off working on the house, garage and yard.

After getting to work and checking things out for this shift, I ate the meal I brought. I feasted on crackers and Richard’s (pronounced Ree-shardz) hog-head cheese. I love hog head cheese. My daughter called me and informed me (after I had already eaten the Hog Head cheese that It was hers (she and I are the only two in the family that eat it), so now I need to pick some up for her.

We had to inspect and replace outdated steam hoses last night. But over all things have been pretty quiet. Now I’m starting to get ready to get out of here. I will bring Gary home and have a beer with him before I come home and go to bed.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Ps: I got a care package yesterday from an old Navy buddy, Bret Hodges, who now lives in Alaska. I can't wait to try the stuff out.

I’m at work and hope to be heading home soon. It’s been a very quiet evening. I just came inside after making and round through my units. I had to get up and go outside because I was getting very sleepy.

After walking around, looking things over and picking up a little trash, I’ve gotten a second wind and should be fine for the rest of my 12 hour shift. I only have another hour to go.

I rode to work alone last night. My carpool buddy, Gary had to go the hospital to spend with his second grandbaby. I think I will go straight home and to sleep. Usually when I drive I stop at Gary’s for a drink and conversation (if he drives we do the same thing at my house). Yesterday morning we had a little bourbon and a some high dollar (smooth) tequila that he picked up in Texas.

I come back tonight for what should be my last shift for a couple of weeks. I’m taking time off to work on the house.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Ps. The picture is of the two ladies in my life. My wife and daughter.

I did not have many days of this week. I worked of Monday and was off work Tuesday and Wednesday. I came to work Thursday for eight hours board training for out new unit and Friday I had Rescue Team training. I did get a little more work done at the house during my time off, but not near as much as I planned to do or should have done.

Last night the Seeps and our family (all but Morgan) went to Chili’s for supper. We had a good visit there and at the house afterwards. Today I got up did a little work and took a nap so I could work tonight.

I’ve recently been trying to contact some of my old Navy buddies. I’ve managed to get in touch with several fellows that haven’t heard from in many years. One of them, Bret, lives in Alaska. He emailed me and said he was sending me a package. I’m pretty excited about that.

I got an email from another guy, Chief Bynoe. He sent me a couple of pictures from our detachment/cruise on board the USS Lockwood (1981). [BTW- Im the fellow in the yellow (plane Captian) shirt.]

Coram Deo.
Kenith

Today is the last of my days off. I start daylight shift tomorrow.

I ended last night standing on an extension ladder, replacing the ceiling fan in the foyer. The ceiling fan has not worked since Hurrican Rita. During the storm water poured through the ceiling, down into the fan and filled the center light globe full of water. I started today doing the same thing that I ended yesterday doing. I had to take down the new light fixture and re-hang it. It’s a large 9-bulb light that hangs on a five-foot chain. It is very nice. Of course Lisa picked it out.

Next I removed three other lights in the hall (Lisa and Morgan did not like them) and I “safed up” the wiring in the wall and covered the holes with sheetrock. I did other odd and ends, then Jeff Nordstrom picked up the little boys and me and we headed for Longville.

On his trailer, Jeff had a compound mitre saw that he sold to Terry; we took the saw to Terry and then we loaded up a cord of wood (or so) on the trailer for Jeff. After that we went into Mom and Dad’s house and visited while enjoying a cup of Dark Roast Community coffee.

When the boys and I got home we fond that Lisa and Morgan had gone to eat at Chile’s. They returned with lights for Morgan’s room. I just finished installing them.

The one other thing I did today today was stumble onto a website titled Military.com. I found my old Helicopter Squadron (HSL 33) at the site and then I found a few of my old Navy buddies that I have not heard from in years, some that I have not heard from since leaving the Navy in 1982. I'm pretty excited about contacting these guys.

now I am going to install another light in the upstairs hall; when that job is finished I plan to get a cold beer and head for the tub where I plan to soak for a nice long time with my beer and a book (Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945).

Coram Deo,
Kenith
Ps. BTW I finally finished JND Kelly's book Early Christian Doctrine. Turnarounds, hurricanes, and post hurricane home repair have caused me to take way too long to read this work. I found it very informative. I also finished Athenagoras' A Plea For the Christians (circa 177 AD) which he addressed to Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus.

We had a very merry Lord’s Day Christmas. Our family opened gifts on Christmas Eve so we would not be rushed to get ready for Church on Christmas morning. We were rushed anyway because I forgot to set the alarm. We made it to worship services at Covenant (Sulphur) Church on time, but woke up to late to go to Bethel in Lake Charles.

Pastor Mark was filling both pulpits and he told me that we would have heard the same sermon no matter which service we attended. After Church we came home ate and got ready to go head for Longville and meet with my family (this was very unusual, we usually stay home on Christmas, and we like it that way, but the family could not get together earlier this year).

Monday after Christmas Lisa and I worked on storm damage (the saga continues ad nauseum). Pastor Mark came over as we were quitting for the day, so he and I went to the front porch where we each enjoyed a fine cigar, liquid refreshments, a nice fire and stimulating conversation (I enjoyed these things and I think he did also). It was a good end to a hard day's work.

Now I am off to say prayers with my young sons (who have been allowed to stay up extra late tonight). Then I hope to retire with a book.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Hopefully this is my last shift to work until after Christmas. I work off in the morning and (if no one calls in sick) I will not return to work until next Thursday on days.

I spent the last three hours of my shift last night outside in 35 degree weather. We had some minor problems because of the cold that kept us out there. It shouldn't be as cold tonight and we are doing things to avert the same problem on this shift.

After having a busy late shift, I had to stay over for a couple of hours this morning. I did not get home until eight o’clock this morning. That cut into my sleep time a good bit. When I woke I did some more painting in the living room. We are trying to get it put back together so we can have one good, undamaged room in the house for Christmas morning.

Matt brought a couple of deer roasts to cook for our supper tonight, so we are hoping to eat good this evening.

My throat is scratchy and my nose is starting to run. This does not bode well for my days off. Oh well. We will make the best of it.

Corem Deo,
Kenith

I finished my first of four graveyards yesterday morning. After work I listened to a discussion between R.C. Sproul and Abdul Saleeb titled The Dark Side of Islam as I drove home. After arriving at the house I popped open a can of Guinness Drought and drank it slowly while I finished listening to this section of the 5 part series.

After that I went inside and went to sleep. Lisa woke me at 1 PM. I worked on hurricane repairs until it was time to get ready for work again.

These are busy times. We're making slow progress repairing hurricane damage around the house. I have taken the come-a-long off of the garage. I had used it to square the garage back up (after a very large oak fell on in during the storm). The garage still needs a lot of work, but I have been mainly working in the house during my last set of days off.

I took a break Friday and MK and I took our boys to see The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I thought it was very good.

Saturday too, I did not get much work done. That morning Gary J, Toney B and I made a run to Specs Liquor store in Beaumont, TX. It is big and has a very large wine selection. I bought some wines.

Sunday we worshiped at Covenant PCA in Sulphur.

Today I cooked breakfast for the family. I made pain perdu (that’s the Cajun name for what most folks call French toast) for everyone. It’s a favourite for the kids and is always a special treat.

The rest of the day was spent working on the house, napping before coming to work and starting this set of graveyards.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Work, work and more work. I am now back on daylight shift. I worked of graveyards Monday morning. So my time off was only 24 hours and much of that was spent sleeping. When I was awake I was pretty useless due to a bad headache, which is unusual for me.

The only thing I did Monday that I would consider worthwhile was I to spend a little time with the family. That was good.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Ps. Remember Pearl Harbor (64 years ago today).

It is growing cold outside and it is very wet as well.

We have been fairly busy at work this evening, but that is ok because they are paying us a good wage to come here and do a job.

I work off in the morning, but have to come back to work on Tuesday days for overtime. I will have no days off this coming week. My next day off will be Thursday of the following week. Yuk.

I can use the money to get more work done on the house. I drove to night, so in the morning Gary and I will have beer (or Bourbon) at his place before I head home to sleep.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I’m back working at the refinery. I worked on the garage and the house while on vacation for Thanksgiving week. I needed to come to work so I could have a break and let my body stop hurting.

During my days off I did get a new deck put on the garage and rebuilt its north gable. I also replaced a bunch of sheetrock in Morgan’s closet. I also got our insurance information to the mortgage company, so I am hoping they send us some of the money to continue house repairs.

We’ve spent about $10,000 on repairs thus far and have a lot more to do. I’m doing most of the work myself so we will have enough money to do the needed repairs, plus contractors are hard to come by. Most of the ones I’ve spoken with have said it would two or three months before they can even think about getting to our house. I can’t wait that long.

The vacation wasn’t all work. I did get to spend some time on our now cluttered porch with some friends on a number of evenings. Lisa and I spent some time on the Porch with, MK and Lisa, Pastor Mark and his lovely wife-Peggy, and Gary J. We had some good wines, beers, mixed drinks and even a cigar or two.

I read what I believe to be a VERY good article written by Pastor Mark. It’s titled The Westminster Standards vs. the Current Controversy (it is also here). I found it to be reasonable and refreshing to read on the current hoopla over so called “Federal Vision.”

I do hope reason well return to the Reformed Camp and these issue can be discussed without all the hyperbole and fireworks that been seen in the past.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Today was a big day. I got home this morning, poured me a Samuel Adams into an Ice cold mug and read some in F.F. Bruce's Commentary on John's Gospel. After finishing my beer I set down the book and went to sleep. The good/bad news for this morning was the roofers were coming today. They arrived early and started their work, which can be, and was, noisy. I knew they were coming so I put the box fan right next to my head and put in some earplugs when I went to bed. I hoped this would allow me to sleep. The roofers did wake me a couple of times, but I was able to go right back to sleep.

I got up at about 11:30, which is very early, to start getting ready for a wedding. Lisa and I went to Jared and Ashley’s wedding at Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Father Gilbeau conducted a beautiful wedding. After the wedding we went to Mazen’s (the best restaurant in SW Louisiana) for the reception. We ate some wonderful food and visited with friends for a while. I had to work tonight, so I only had one beer (New Castle Brown Ale) and we left the reception early.

When Lisa and I got home or roof was finished and looked good. The blue roof is gone!!!!

C. Cudd volunteered to cover me at work for a few hours so I did not have to go in at the normal time. I tried to sleep when I got home but was unable to so I watched the movie Troy (again) instead.

I got to work at about 7:30. I am tired. This is going to be a hard night’s work. The good news is I am on vacation when I leave here in the morning.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

After a very hard night at work (work was not hard –staying awake was hard) I went home and instead of going to sleep I spent two hours looking for our two missing Labrador Retrievers (a yellow and a black). They got out early last night. My wife and son both spent a good deal of time calling for them shortly after their escape from the yard.

Lisa and the little boys left early this morning, so they could run by Walmart before school. As she left the store, one of the boys saw the dogs sitting by the store entrance. We assume they saw Lisa and the boys go in and were waiting for them to come out. They were thrilled to see a familiar face and loaded up in the Jeep and came home.

With the dogs safe at home I finally went to bed. The dogs and I slept all day. I got up in time to pick up the boys, run an errand and I’m back at work.

We did have a delivery of roofing supplies in the yard when I woke up. They should start replacing our FEMA blue roof tomorrow. I had hoped to have the garage roof re-decked so it too could be re-roofed but all this overtime has killed that possibility.

I will do that work next week while on vacation.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

I just found out how to put pictures on my blog, so I thought I would start by putting a picture of the man who I think is the greatest man in American history: Robert E. Lee.

Lee was a great Christian man. He did his duty knowing that it would very likely cost him everything he had (and it did). In defeat he remained a humble Christian who sought to serve others and continue to do his duty.

Lee was a man who was gifted by God and he used those gifts to serve the Lord in his calling.

Now on to my own stuff. We have to Labrador Retirevers (a Black and a yellow). Tonight the gate was not closed well and they got out of the yard and are missing. Christian is very upset because he dearly loves Oakley (the black Lab). I'm hoping they're home in the morning.

I did not get enough sleep today. Christian needed my help to run a couple of important errands, so he got me up early and I never go back to sleep. I still feel good but when it gets to 3 or 4 in the morning it gets really rough.

Cram Deo,
Kenith

Tonight is my first night of 4 nights of overtime. I was hoping to have the next few days off so I could replace the decking on my garage roof. Roofers are supposed to be at the house Saturday. I was hoping to get the garage finished so they could get everything done at the same time. Since I won’t be able to get the garage finished they will have to come back another day or I will have to do the job myself.

Tonight is my sixth graveyard and I have three more after tonight, then I will be on vacation, which I will use to work on the garage, house and yard. I will have 48 hours of overtime this week. We're going to need the money for lots of Rita repairs.

I’ve started reading F.F. Bruce’s Commentary on the Gospel of John. He does a very good job on chapter one of the John’s Gospel.

Later,
Kenith

Things are still slogging along here in our post Hurricane Rita world. Our house and property are still looking bad, but we are all doing fine.

I’ve been putting in a lot of hours on my garage. I tore most of the deck (that was left) off. I removed all the facial boards off the front of the garage and I then hooked up a come-along and pulled it back to where it was square from east to west, but this through it off north to south. So let out on the come-along and then built a strong back for the north-south run.

It took a number of attempts, but it is now square. With Terry’s help, I’ve replaced the rafters that were destroyed and hope to but the deck on as soon as I get a day off.

At the age of 45 I finally own a new vehicle. We bought several for Lisa over the years but I finally bought one for me. We gave our old van to our niece Kimberlee and bought the bottom line Dodge pickup truck. I also signed for Christian to buy him one and we are looking at getting a vehicle for Morgan.

We went into the hurricane with four vehicles (3 of them were wrecks). After the storm we were down to one vehicle. Now we are up to three.

Rev. Mark Duncan, the new pastor of Covenant PCA here in Sulphur is now a near neighbour of ours. He was a lot of help to me after the hurricane and has stopped and visited with Lisa and me on the porch a few times now. I’m hoping we can soon get to know his wife soon too.

I’m working graveyard shift again. This week I’m driving and Gary is supplying the beer after work. It was exactly the opposite before I got the truck, but now that I have a dependable vehicle he can switch off. This morning Gary, Kevin C. and I all stopped at Gary’s and had a few Killians before heading home for bed. TK was supposed to join us but was unable to do so.

Lisa said that a FEMA rep was coming over to the house in the morning. (Sunday is not a good day for that, but folks with an ox in the ditch have to take these things as they come.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Things are starting to get back to normal. Everyone is back at work and/or school. I’ve started working on things around the house (as opposed to cutting up fallen trees and limbs).

I started removing the deck off the roof of the garage. On of the large oaks we had landed on the garage and my work van. The garage is tore up pretty bad, about 1/3 of the roof was crushed and the front of the garage is leaning to the west.

I hope I can straighten it out by taking of the roof and facial boards, and then put it all back together. The insurance is not enough to pay someone to do it, and even if it were it would take months just to be able to get a crew to do it.

The damage in the house will have to wait for me to finish in the garage. I will need to put down new floors and replace a ceiling (sheetrock) and some walls in several rooms. Lisa and I were already planning to renovate the kitchen (one place where we got some damage) so I will do all this inside work at one time.

I am going to hire someone to re-roof (shingle) the house and garage. I’ve been trying to get someone to come out and look at it and give me a bid. I’ve called a number of contractors and have only gotten one of them to come by. He was out of the ball park with his estimate. He quoted me $300 a square (mega price gauging). I have a 12 on 12 pitch so I will have to pay extra, but that is ridicules.

I broke down and bought a new truck to replace the old van the tree landed on. I looked at several used vehicles and decided to get the bottom line new Dodge. This is my first ever official new vehicle and I’m only 45 years old. (My wife has had several new ones, but that doesn’t count.)

I’ve decided that I don’t like hurricanes. Rita has torn this place up. It has been six weeks since the storm and we have a very, very long way to go to get this place cleaned up and looking good again. Even with our damages we are blessed to be able to live in our own house and we still have jobs. That’s better than many of the people around us.

Coram Deo,
Kenith
Ps. I have lots of work to do so my posting will continue to be slow for a while.

My posting has been none existant since Hurricane Rita blew through here. I was posting things on the Semper Reformanda section of Christian Forums during that time. I am going to place that stuff here and I am working on a Hurricane article andwill post it when complete.

Here is the Semper Reformanda stuff:
22 Sept. 2005 -- 6:33 AM:
Well folks, looks like Rita has taken a more northerly course and we are now looks like SE Texas and SW Louisiana are gonna take it on the chin.I live less than 25 miles from Texas and about thirty miles inland from the Gulf, but most of what lies between me and the gulf is marsh land.

Keep us in your prayers. I've gotta go. There is lots of work to do before Rita slams into us here.

In Christ,
Kenith
=============
22 Sept 2005 -- 4:54 PM

Well, it has been a very hot sunny day here. I've boarded up all the windows facing South and east. The roads out of here are clogged, and I am beginning to think it will be better to be in my home instead of stranded in my car when this gal hits.

We are under mandatory evacutation orders, but you can't get out. I am on fairly high ground for these parts (13 feet above sea level, but 30 miles from the coast.), and I think we will have to ride her out in our closet.

My dad made it through Audry (1957) which was a cateigory 4 storm also. Audry killed over six hundred people in Cameron Parish (we don't have counties), which is just south of where I am. But this area where I live, while it took a lot of wind damage, was far enough inland to escape the tidal surge (which is what klilled all the folks in Cameron).

Thats the bad thing, they tell you to get out but the roads can't handle the amount of traffik that such an order produces.I will update as I am able. When the power goes out, it will be out for several weeks (I do own a generator), so I will be off line for a while.Keep on praying for us. We are doing all we can to stay safe. We are in God's hands.

BTW: Jon, you have given me good advice. If the roads clear out I will take it.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Kenith
================
22 Sept. 2005 -- 10:32 PM
Thank You all.Here are is the latest info on Rita (there is good news. She has weakend from 175 MPH winds to now a bit over 140 MPH winds.)-- looking for a silver lining.

Here is the report: ...RITA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES OVERSOUTHEASTERN TEXAS AND SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AS IT MOVES INLAND. SINCE RITA IS EXPECTED TO SLOW DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER MAKING LANDFALL...TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 25 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS OVER EASTERN TEXAS AND WESTERN LOUISIANA. IN ADDITION...RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA NCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS.REPEATING THE 10 PM CDT POSITION...26.2 N... 90.3 W. MOVEMENTTOWARD...WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...140 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 917 MB.AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT 1 AM CDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 4 AMCDT.+++++++++++++++++
BTW: Buy all the gasoline you can. The refinery I work at shutdown today . We are a 250,000 barrel a day ( BPD) refinary. The price is going to shoot up. There are more than a dozen otehr refineries that also shut down. If we loose power, which we expect, this means we can not restart the refinary until power comes back. These things take a long time to bring back up. If we could start tomorrow it would be a couple of weeks (at best -- and that is unusual) to get it back up to speed.

=======================
25 Sept. 2005 -- 5:29 PM

Hello,

Its me. We are alive and well, but I have Major property damage as do thousands of other people around here. I did manage to get a generator and I am shocked that I have phone line (land lines cell are dead). I have DSL so I can make a report.

This place is beat up badly. My own home had most the shingles ripped off the east side of my house and it is leaking like a lot all offer the house every time it rains. I had two large Oaks in my yard knocked down. One fell on my garage and a car. We have food and water to last a week or so. I only have a little gasoline so I will not be able to post often. It will only be on for a few hours every day to keep the Refridgerator cold. We will let the kids watch a dvd then as well.

Thanks for the prayers and please continue to do so.

The Lord bless y'all.
Kenith
===============
26 Sept 2005 -- 10:17 PM
Thanks. I have the generator on for a couple of hours. We are under lock down here. There are national guard and police at every entrance into this town and many others in east Texas and SW Louisiana. You can leave but it is very hard to get in, unless you are like me, and work at an oil refinery. The Gov. wants us here.

I SENT MY WIFE AND CHILDREN AWAY to friends who live about 70 miles east. They have electricity, etc...it is very HOT and MUGGY. but I have plenty of food and water. We are not New Orleans, so there are very few looters, but there are a few, so I am watching my place and my neighbours homes also. I am well armed (it is a Southern thing) so all should be ok. Looters are cowards and don't like to mess with others who have guns.

Keep us in your prayers. My widowed sister-in-law has a pine tree that fell through her house. Most of the heavy damage here is from uprooted or broken trees. It is unbelievable. It looks like a bomb went off in most neighbour hoods.

God has been good. Things could have been much worst; the storm lost 50 MPH of her winds before she hit. She had gotten to 175 mph winds but hit at 125 mph winds.

The damage from 125 is awesome. I don,t think my house would be here at all if Rita had stayed at 175.

Gotta go.
Thanks for the prayers.
Kenith
===================

26 Sept. 2005 -- 10:41 PM
I appreciate the concern. My generator is outside under my porch and I have extension cords running into the house. So it is running safely. Some folks have asphyxiated themselves? Unbelievable.

We are looking forward to a cool front coming through here in a few days. It is 95 deg. with a heat index of 105-110. 100% humidity. Yuck.

Food and water are available and there are workcrews from the power company out in force. It may be a couple of months in some areas before power is resatored.

In Christ our Saviour's name,
Kenith
====================
27 Sept. 2005 -- 4:41 PM
Everyone is OK. I am staying at the house trying to fix up and clean up. Mike [Seep] has been commuting between here and Arkansas. Mike's family is in Arkansas, but his house and property are fine. Mike is on his way back from Arkansas. He went there to pick up a couple of diesel generators for his inlaws. They live in Ragley and have no power, water or phones.

My property took a good hit. My garage is toast and I have major shingle damage, which allowed for some water damage inside, but it could have been much worse, and it was for a lot of people.

My wife and kids are staying with some friends (PCA elderand his wife) who live in Grand Couteau. She brought me ice and tarps today. I hope she can bring gasoline tomorrow.

How did your folks come out of this storm?

Coram Deo,
Kenith
==================
28 Sept. 2005 -- 9:10 PM
I am on generator backup power. The familyu is about 70 miles east. I'm still home guarding the homestead.

It is hot and muggy. The word today is it will be four weeks before we get power. I hope that is bad info. We will see.

The reports from here on will likely be pretty boring. "Worked hard and sweated all day will do same tomorrow" etc...

I have to give praise to the Southern Baptist relief folk. They are here in force declaring the love of Christ by their deeds. Most of them here are retired folk and they are feeding people (with food and Bibles), housing them, washing their (my) cloths, providing showers clearing downed trees. Most of the SBC folk working in my area are from Tennessee.

I praise God for them!!!

Coram Deo,
Kenith
==================
2 Oct. 2005 -- 9:17 PM
UPDATE:A lot of the same. No power here. There are a view places that now have power, but they are few and far between.

I went to Grand Couteau last night and spent the evening with my family. I spent the night and worshipped with the PCA folks at the Church in Lafayette.

I am supposed to go back to work tomorrow. The refinery doesn't yet have power, but they are working on it.

In Christ,
Kenith
=================
3 Oct. 2005 -- 9:35 PM
Update:I am back at work, but we have a long way to go to get things back up and running. I came to work this morning but volunteered for the night shift so I went home and came back this evening.

There is now electricity here and there in different neighbourhoods. It is not yet available in mine, so when we work off in the morning a number of us are going to a co-workers house that does have power so we can sleep in airconditioned rooms .

Looks like we will be working everyday for a good while.

The family is doing fine in Grand Couteau; I'm at work and things are moving forward.

In Christ,
Kenith
=====================
4 Oct. 2005 -- 10:58 AM
Tell Sarah I said hello, and I hope she is feeling better.

Yes, my family is staying at Sarah's parents house. I joined them Saturday evening and we worshipped with the Lafayette PCA congregation Sunday morning.

Paster Stan delivered a very good message. He saw Rosalee, but Sarah did not come home for the weekend.

Dr. Mike is in town somewhere. I hope to get in touch with him today.

In Christ,
Kenith

=================
23 Oct 2005 -- 8:46 PM

Things are improving daily. Most stores are open. We did have a good bit of Christian support especially from the Southern Baptist. They did great work.

The PCA also sent some folks in to help with our widows and families really hard hit.

We are still waiting on insurance to come by the house. We will need a new roof and garage, but our roof is tarpped and secure from rain. We've had power for a little more than a week and that has gone a long way to making things normal again.

The local schools are supposed to start back Tuesday. They have been closed since before Rita hit a months ago.

We are well some folks here lost everything, especially those in the Parish (county for the rest of you) south of us. There is nothing left down there. The towns on the coast don't exist anymore. Some don't have one building left.We are about twenty five or thirty miles from the gulf and that makes a big difference.

This was our first direct hit from a major storm in 48 years. This time folks got out of the way and saved their lives, last time (1957) hundreds upon hundreds died.

Our refinery is limping back into production of gasoline (so we will see some savings at the pumps soon--I hope).

I am very thankful for your prayers.

In Christ,
Kenith

I hope to my article on the blog soon.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Tonight is hot and muggy even though the weather on the web shows that it is supposedly one degree cooler than it was last night. The humidity is way up from last night.

Gary and I did have a beer on the front porch yesterday. It was Abita Amber (which is a good beer) and we are planning on have another one when we knock off in the morning.

I slept pretty good yesterday. I got up a little after one in the afternoon, which is a little early for me but I am doing weell this evening. When I awoke, there was knowone home. I took the dogs out to do their business and then just vegitated until it was time to come to work. I did turn on Ben-Hur and whatched the first half of that great classic movie.

The only part of the family I saw today was Christian and that was only for a few minutes.

That is all for tonight,
Kenith