And I swim out as far as I can

And float on my back, just waiting for nothing...

Gustav needs to go away...

Granted, I am not exactly on the coast line...nor am I feeling 100 mph+ wind speeds. But! We are experiencing torrential down pours here in the lovely portion of northwest Arkansas.

Ok that may be a gross exaggeration but it has been raining fairly solid for the last 10 hours with no signs of it stopping with in the next day.

Two years ago I went with a church group down to Pass Christian, Mississippi. Before that point in my life I had never seen the damage of a hurricane. I saw foundations of houses with the house no where to be found. I heard stories of houses being lifted up over 20 feet and dropped 200 yards away. Obviously the house was not livable anymore for the fact it had no foundation. Jesus explains the need for foundations...and as a civil engineering major I am blessed to find out the mathematical reasons why it is needed...not that I enjoy it that much. :)

That being said here are perhaps the more disturbing pictures I took while helping rebuild from Katrina. (Editors Note: These pictures are a year after the actual hurricane in '06...still so much devistation at that time.)


This is a picture of a house that by all modern definitions of the word was a NICE house...it had a minimum of two stories and a gated fence that would probably cost more then my house alone. All that is left after the hurricane is the fence and the most hardened support areas such as the stairs...



This is a picture looking out over where several houses used to be...a sign of life though shows through with the owners of this plot stating they are coming back.



This is the stairs and the bath tubs of a house...there was nothing left of this house except the concrete front porch stairs and the bathtubs. This was one of the places that made me tear up.



This is the Pass Christian Library. There is...well at least there was a video on youtube about what happened in the library during the hurricane. I dont remember the specifics but for some reason there were people that were trapped in the building. While waters were surging around the police cheif inside was forced to shoot holes in the doors. I believe it was so they could escape...I dont remember the exact reason to be honest though.


I hope anyone that reads this is at least compelled to help in some way with those that have gone through this a second time. Please pray for those that this may be a time for them to have their lives built up and that the glory of God may shine through them.