Don't Take "Normal" For Granted!

It's good to be back to normal. The power came back on around 10:00 PM on Saturday night. We had the generator going and our landlord called Todd and asked him if we knew the current was back on. He quickly turned off the generator and turned on the AC. Earlier we had been so hot that we went for a drive to pick up several cases of water that a team going back to the US had left over and wanted to give us. We were thankful for the chance to cool off in the car.

Gustav's wind and rain.

The football field below our house flooded.

Since it wasn't lightning and Nathan was bouncing off both the walls and my nerves, Todd took him out to play in the rain. He was concerned about someone seeing him in his underwear. I assured him no one was around to look.

Todd cooked breakfast for us on the grill Saturday morning. He made bacon, french toast and scrambled eggs.

He was sure to use his earplugs cooking next to the generator.

Water we used to flush the toilets and bathe with.

The missionary that was hosting a Convoy of Hope missions team called us Saturday to see if we could use about six cases of water they had left over. We indeed could. We had just about used all the potable water we had stored. Each case contained twenty, one liter bottles of water. When we got there to pick it up they had ten cases instead of six. We took several cases to church Sunday morning to give to our church members. They were grateful because as they put it they had "no wata in di pipe." They were shocked when we told them we didn't have "wata in our pipe" either. I took another bath-in-a-pot Sunday morning, but when we got home from church the water was back on. The pressure isn't the greatest and we have been advised to boil it for about two weeks just to be safe.
This little jewel was my savior during the time of the power outage. I picked it up at Wal-Mart for a mere $13.00 and it has been worth every penny. It is lightweight, and can be used with power or with eight D cell batteries. We set it up on the ironing board and slept much more comfortably.

I also took it to church Sunday morning and pointed it on me while I played the guitar. It made the heat much more bearable because there was no breeze Sunday morning.

Here is a clip of how we had the generator hooked up and the layout of the cords. Nathan even got to play Wii while it was running. Make sure you have your sound on so you can enjoy the noise of the generator. You know, just to make you feel like you were here with us.

I enjoyed my nice hot shower this morning and am very thankful for "normal" again. Please remember to say a prayer for those that are still in the path of what is now Hurricane Gustav.

TS Gustav Update!

We lost power for good around 3:30 AM. It woke me up because the air conditioner buzzed off. The wind was blowing in loud strong gusts. Right outside our bedroom window are coconut trees, palm trees, mango, bread fruit and pear (avocado) trees. The wind blowing through them was incredibly loud. The rain had continued in spurts. As I type this it is raining really hard.

How am I typing this? Thanks to my husband's ingenuity. We have a generator that he started by using a car battery. Because we have a phone signal he was able to plug all the right plugs in and get us going. We are only running the generator an hour at a time. It is extremely loud and the sound reverberates off of these concrete walls.

Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for the people of Jamaica whose living conditions are now made worse than they were by the heavy winds and rains. Most of where we look out below us is flooded. Pray our gas will last so we can continue to run the generator to keep the food cold in the fridge. I will update as soon as I can.

Gustav Is Here!

Jamaica is the red oval pictured above.

As a matter of fact I think he is about to be right over the Island. We were able to have VBS this morning although only nine kids braved the rain to attend. We went to lunch and went to Mega Mart and Super Plus for last minute items only to be turned away from both. All the stores and businesses are sending their employees home for shelter.

So far it has only rained and the wind is starting to blow harder and harder. And, as you can tell we still have power and internet service.

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Please pray for Jackie and Crystal. We called Jackie this morning on the way to VBS to see if we could give her a ride since it was raining. She told us that she was at Cornwall Regional, the local hospital. Four gunmen broke into her home last night. She said that they threw Crystal off of the bed looking for money. The police did come to help her and they sent them to the hospital to get checked out. Thank the Lord they survived the ordeal without losing their lives. We called her after lunch to make sure she had a safe place to go until the storm passes. She told us she was going to her mother's house.As you can tell Jackie doesn't have anything to steal except herself. She is a squatter on the railroad property. You can see the railroad tracks that she crosses to get to her humble home. We would love to find Jackie a job so she can move into a safer home. As long as she has to live where she does she will remain so vulnerable to those that have nothing better to do than take advantage of others. At times we feel so helpless.

Nathan and Crystal at VBS yesterday.