Here we float again

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it also dumps a tremendous amount of fear onto you. Seven years ago today, I rose to a dark morning, very similar to the one in which I find myself enduring now.

Seven years ago, I rose to a home without power, though the electricity seemed to come on and go off at will, till it went and didn't come again for more than a week.

We had evacuated two days earlier, to my mother's house in Lizelia, Miss., to escape Hurricane Katrina. We could have gone anywhere in America, but we went there only to see wind blowing trees nearly out of the ground.

As the power began to go, the temperatures rose. Of all that I remember about the evacuation days, I remember how hot it was and I remember eventually renting the entire first season of the television show Lost, which we had never seen.

Cell phones worked on occasion, though getting dropped was frequent. When the phones didn't work, texting did. I had little experience with texting at the time. I learned.

My girls were separated, one in Houston and one in Baton Rouge. My fears for them were the greatest thing all during the week of Katrina. But, turned out though they were far apart, they were safe.

Today I'm in Eunice, La., miles and hours away from the New Orleans area. We have power, with the wonderful gift of air conditioning. The girls are together, but they've had no power since early last night on the West Bank across the river from New Orleans, and Shanna's roof has sustained significant damage. Ironically, her house had little damage during the greater storm while she was in Houston.

Lessons? Though this scribbling is usually about what one can learn, what lessons can be obtained from life, from scripture, from the combination, I'm not sure as we go through this what one can sop up like white gravy after some chicken friend.

Rescues from roofs? Check, here we go again. Levees leaking? Check, here we go again. Boats motoring up to houses to pick up people and pets? Check, here we go again.

Has anything changed? Has anything really changed? Here we are blaming God's will again. Here we are talking up Mother Nature one more time.

The lessons learned are  pretty difficult to find. I would like to simply say we've learned this and that, but we haven't. Evacuate? Maybe. Levees breeched? Yeah, but what the heck should we do about it?

Seven years ago we struggled, we fought and we failed. Seen years later, we're struggling, fighting and we're failing again.

I simply pray. I'm pretty sure we will be losing power later this morning. I know little more than I did seven years ago when Katrina impacted our lives so much.

So, I guess I can say this: It is more important to be in the eye of the Lord than the eye of the hurricane. It surely is.

The power of the storm is tremendous. The power of the Lord is, as well. When one becomes before the other, or without the other, I suspect these things are hard to survive.

God be with you all.