Help I lost my Stuff

Well I don't know if you all remember or not, but on September 13, 2008 hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas. You also may remember that my mom moved from the Ham to Galveston in Spring of 2006 in pursue a dream of love and fresh start to life.

Somehow I don't think she envisioned fleeing her home from a hurricane as part of that dream.

Oh well...such is life.

I remember now talking to her prior to Ike's landfall. I remember trying to talk her into evacuating. At first she didn't want to battle the traffic and they didn't have a place to stay. I remember Leo (my mom's new hubby) was extremely resistant to evacuating. After all he had lived on the island his entire life and never once suffered a severe hurricane. I can understand their lives were based in Galveston. It was the city that brought them together. It was a major decision for mom to move into a tiny house built in the 30's from a nicer house in Alabama. To leave her friends and family of 25 years behind. They didn't want to evacuate it. Eventually the Mayor's Office issued a fairly stern warning to all Galveston residents that their lives would be in jeopardy if they didn't flee...fortunately my folks decided they were convinced.

Ike made landfall and literally wiped out the island. Going back now it looks completely different. Houses and major landmarks and now empty lots. There are work trucks and debris piles everywhere. My moms house took over a foot of water, and the house is five feet off of the ground. That's six feet of water 20 blocks from the ocean. That is a significant tidal surge.

Needless to say my folks have been "homeless" since then. They had rented a sub-par one bedroom place in Texas City while the renovations on their house took place.

It has been a stressful year for my parents. Not only did they lose priceless possessions in the storm, they've also been pushed to the limits with their marriage. The contracting company that they signed with has proven to be a brood of vipers: over-charging for simple tasks, lying about payment to subcontractors, refusing to finish jobs, etc. So far one lien has been placed on the house because the company hasn't paid their bonding company. I'm sure my parents will be forced into court to resolve the matter. In the end my parents have got their ducks in a row and they'll be fine, but the stress of dealing with such dishonesty in the wake of a tragedy is truly a pain in the ass. I feel bad for them.

So I pray for them.

I went and helped them move back into the house this last weekend. It was a stressful trip full of manual labor, but ultimately a joyful one too. I was glad to see them back in their home after all of the drama. Though it wasn't constant hugs and kisses my parents seem to be doing well and I know they're looking forward to adjusting back to their routine.

Still they have suffered a great loss they may never fully recover from. It just brings to mind this verse in Mathew 6. The gist is this "Don't waste time building wealth in money or possessions, its all going to be garbage someday anyway" (The Zaner Standard Version).

So the odd thing about the house is they basically got a free upgrade. The house need to be renovated big time, and the insurance came through in a big way on that. The biggest cost of the whole ordeal will be the months of stress and fighting.

And I'm left here thinking is it worth it? I mean sure they have a nice house, but they could have easily moved somewhere else. They could have moved to Houston or Texas City or Kansas or Bama. All of those options wouldn't have strained their marriage as much. Its all just stuff...

I wonder what it would be like if we would stand on the outside of our lives and ask ourselves if all of this is really necessary. We live in the most consumer-centric nation in the world. We've become creatures of stuff. And I'm guilty of this too.

I just think it could all be different you know.

I wish I felt blessed...

At church we are reading through the sermon on the mount. You know, the story where Jesus stands on top of a rock and preaches to a large crowd that followed him there.

To think of a bunch of idiots following a vagabond around waiting for him to say something when most days he ignores them completely, and then finally one day he just jumps on top of this rock and says...

"You are blessed when your life sux". Of course that is me paraphrasing but seriously that is what he said. Go check it out, maybe I'm the only idiot in this story (Mathew 5/Luke 6). Mad props to Josh btw for knowing exactly where those verses were off the top of his head.

Anywhos, back to my point. The Man said to a crowd that had followed him and said you are blessed when you are a wreck, when you feel useless, when you have nothing left to live for, when you've screwed things up beyond the point of reconciliation. Blessed! The reason you are blessed he explains: Because there is less of you there to screw it up more.

Really? That's an interested point Jesus. So are You (the Son of the Creator of the whole Freakin' Universe) telling me that if I live my life as a walking disaster to the point I fall into a pit of despair I'll get to the point where I have absolutely no reason whatsoever to depend on myself and I will have to...HAVE TO...rely on your help. Hmmmm....

Dang it. I should screw up more often. Or maybe I should stop masquerading as a blessed person and just be honest.

So I totally blew off studying the Bible tonight so I can sit on my porch and smoke. I sat there for like 15 minutes in silence, and then I walked inside and wrote this down. Shocking. I'm eating a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats right this second and like a light show just went off in my head and I wrote this down. I can't believe this is real.

Dang impressive. I just got f-bombed by my Lord, my Savior and of course...Sarayu.

Success

The fiesta was a blast. I finally feel like we got the house good and broken in. I really appreciate everybody that came, we never dreamed we would have such a good turnout.

On a side note. My house smells like beer. Flashback to dorm parties...ugh.

Have a good week.

quién es listo para una fiesta

Ready for a fiesta?

In case you haven't heard, Josh and I are throwing a party this Saturday. The festivities should start around 5 and end whenever. Call/Txt/Email for the directions.

It is a funny feeling to want people to come over to my house. I honestly haven't felt like I've had a home for a long time; ever since I moved out as a freshman.

Its not that I didn't enjoy the dorms, apartments, tents, the Glasgow's. I just really never felt like I was home. When I would think about sleeping, I would not think about sleeping in my bed in Debbie's basement. I would just fall asleep wherever I was at. It was kinda like, where I lay my head that's my home for that moment.

Then I got a house about five months ago, and it is really starting to feel like home. I think it feels like home not because my stuff is there, but because it is my project. There are things that need to be done, and I am the only one that can do them.

You know that's a bit of a weird feeling for me. I want people to come to my house. I finally have something to show off.

Precipice?

If the definition of precipice is "a situation of great peril" I feel like I am there right now. But peril is a funny word. I feel like I was happily sitting in my box, and someone just walked over and turned the box upside down. Now I'm left with the same crap, just a different arrangement. And now the question is, what do I do with all of this crap? Do I clean up and try to put things back to where they were, or do I use the opportunity to re-arrange a little? You know, set up things up a bit different.

A motivational speaker would say "seize the moment". I don't feel like seizing anything. I've grabbed on too hard to my normal, and that's why I'm in this hole in the first place. I just want to leap off, knowing I may splatter when I hit the bottom, but there's a chance, even if it is a small chance, that I'll learn how to fly.

I often feel like my life is passing me by. There are so many things I would like to experience in life, but I always manage to make an excuse. Too many times that excuse is money. Thank you Mike for telling us to stop poor mouthing. I know you said it in the context of our church finances, but I really needed that for myself.

There are several things over the last 10 months I really regret. Often they are associated with hurting the people that I love. I'm terribly sorry for that. I have a nice house. It is clean and new and the brick makes it masculine just enough. Inside is warm, a friendly atmosphere. But there's still dirt in my closets, soap-scum in the shower, a smelly refrigerator, and many places seem hollow and bare. I should work on that.

For all of you web-nerds. Two websites you should check out. This guy travels the world and dances. If I ever get over my anxiety, I would like to stand on the kjeragbolten.