Hey, thanks for praying for us. The storm weakened and turned west, so New Orleans made out very well, even the wind damage was nothing compared to Katrina's. To those who helped us replace 9 roofs after Katrina, thanks :) Your work past the Gustav test and the fence that some of y'all built stood strong and the drainage system around Sarah's house kept the water out and the bushes y'all planted stayed rooted and the new siding stayed on! All Y'all who have come to help us are amazingly wonderful, and even those who have not been here, you are cool too : ).

Last Wednesday I came back to an empty city; streets barren, stores closed, gas stations boarded up, and the YWAM houses were surrounded by a land cover of branches and leaves and even today my neighborhood is still without electricity. Entergy said this was the second largest power-outage in their History. Some places south-west of New Orleans may not have electricity for another 3 weeks. But I am spoiled rotten, for we have some houses in a different neighborhood that never lost power, so that is where I am staying now. Also, we got a local coffee shop with the internet, thus I got to send y'all this.

Here are some high notes.

1.  The news told me not to wash my dishes or take showers less we overload the sewer. Oh that is just music to my ears : )

2. The stop lights are not working!!!! Oh I cannot tell you how nice to just drive through and not have to wait at those wicked and evil red lights.

3. In Africa I learned that eggs don't need refrigeration, so I've been feasting on eggs ever since the storm

4. The air-port reopened yesterday, so I still get to go to Toledo tomorrow : )

5. People I lost contact with thought of me and called, so now I have there numbers.

6. I got to stay with a wonderful family & since we were close enough to Gustav we enjoyed the storm together; watching the strong gust of wind & the driving rain. We lost power but the weather stayed cool.

7.Because of being out in the country without electricity, I am more enlightened; I read a book on the history of New Orleans. Which was absolutely incredibly amazingly interesting, sad, disheartening and revealing of why the city is like it is.

8. While waiting in line for coffee this morning, the two men in front of my had loaded M-16s around their back, I guess there is still that part of me that finds that cool.