Friday, September 11, 2009

September Memories

Last September we experienced our first major hurricane. It was quite an event for me even though I grew up on the west coast of Florida. Hurricane Ike came ashore in Texas and boy did things look different around here after he left. Thankfully, we were only without power four days at our house. A little cool front came and kept us cool. Each night we had 12-15 people at our house to eat. I had a generator keeping one of our refrigerators going so neighbors would bring me food from their freezers. We all ate really good.

This is how things normally look around here:













After Ike this is what we saw when we walked out side:






The park near our house looked like this:






Another Memory:

I know we all thought back to the day of September 11, 2001...where we were and what were were doing. I remember seeing something briefly on the TV about the World Trade Center being hit by the first plane. I turned off the TV so it wouldn't scare my daughter and we rushed on out the door to go to school. I drove across the street to pick up my neighbor's son who carpooled with us. She walked out and asked me if I saw the Pentagon had been hit by a plane. I told her "No, it was the WTC. Not the Pentagon." Sadly we were both right.

Speaking of Memory:

I received this from our Community Association Office last week.


They forwarded this man's picture. He has amnesia. He was found beaten up and left for dead in Richmond, Georgia. He has very little recollection of his past and no idea who he is. Linguist have determined from his accent that he could possibly be from Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana or Colorado. Someone out there has to be looking for him. I felt sad for him and decided to post him on my blog. You never know.

Here is the link for more information regarding him:


~~~
Lastly, I wanted to share with you about Dr. Margaret Nikol. Paige and I heard her speak today and share memories of her life growing up as a Christian in Communist Bulgaria. Her mother, father and brother were all martyred for their faith. I wish you could hear her story in person. She has speaking engagements all over the U.S. Check out her website http://www.intl-impact.org/. She will be in California, Oklahoma, Texas and Illinois between now and the end of the year. You have to see her if you can.
She still has such a burden and a heart for Bulgaria. She translated the entire Bible into the Bulgarian language and in 1993 took over the first copies of the Bible that those churches have had in years. She's has since provided Bulgarian believers with over 600,000 copies of the Bible in their language. One memory that she shared touched me so much. She told of her mother's death. The Communist had poisoned her and brought her home to die. As she lay dying, Margaret and her younger brother were with her and she told them that the prayers she had prayed for them would follow them their entire lives. They did. She prayed that Margaret would be a musician and she was. By the time she was four years old she was playing organ and piano in their church. She prayed her brother would be a Pastor and he was. He was martyred two weeks before the Berlin Wall crumbled. Both of his sons are still pastors in Bulgaria. The story is incredible. I wish she would write a book. I'm glad Paige could go with me to see this Hero of the Faith and hear her memories.

18 comments:

Diana Ferguson said...

Wow! A post full of emotions at all different levels.
Thank you for sharing.

Diana

Betty W said...

That is a powerful witness! You´re right that should be in a book.

And the aftermath of the hurricane sure looks scary! I hope you don´t get any this year!

Susan said...

What a full post of most interesting things. Glad all is safe and sound there now. What a touching testimony. I have been called on to bear so little for my Lord it humbles me greatly to hear these that pay such a price for their faith. May be each be found faithful if called upon to do so.
Susan

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hey Joy, It's great to hear from you. Hurricane Ike did SO much damage not just to your area --but all along the Galveston Bay area near Seabrook where my kids live. They were lucky not to have lost anything at their house--but they also were without electricity for several days. They also had a little generator.

BUT--when I visited them last April, Mark took me around the area and we still saw TONS of damage. So sad... Some people just walked away from their homes.

Have you all ever been down to Kemah? Mark and family live very near there.

Sad about the man with amnesia.

Dr. Nikol must have an amazing story to tell. Wish everyone could hear her speak.

Hugs to you,
Betsy

Sandra said...

Missionaries amaze me. They love their calling and are so devoted to it. I'll have to check her out and see where she is going to be at in OK>

Brenda said...

Its amazing what a storm can do!

Keeper of the Skies Wife said...

wow...that storm did some damage.

I feel bad for that man as well. I hope his memory comes back and his loved ones find him.

Tricia said...

I agree Dr. Nikol should write a book. It must have been amazing to hear her speak.

Many different emotions!

Karin said...

Thanks for sharing all the memories. Amazing how wonderfully God uses each one to effect change and inspiration in other people's lives. It would be sad not to have memories. Hopefully someone out there will see the photo of this man and recognize him.

Thanks for your visit at my blog!!

Sandy said...

Joy,
Thank you for this touching post.
I came over to comment to you, because I saw your comment on Diana's blog.
You could still have Pam make a new Bulldogs shirt for you, but I have 2 that she made for me, that I would give you, if you want them.
What size?

Sandy said...

and what colors did you need?

C. JoyBell C. said...

Your post is so much of this and that...I don't know where to begin! :0

Hmmmm...well...thank you for all your supportive comments on my writings, I really appreciate it, Joy-y! :))

I remember we had a tornado back in the US once when I was little...I slept through the whole thing! The next day when I woke up,everybody in the family was looking at me as if I was crazy!!!

Joyfulsister said...

Hi Joy,
Happy Sunday Sistah!! I didn't realize about the hurricane in your area, we had a few close call as well but as soon as it was heading for the islands it suddenly went in another direction. Praise God!! I know the cleaning up takes time, but I am glad you all were safe.

Hugz Lorie

Ronnica said...

The only time I've been without power for an extended period of time was right before we moved out of the last house we rented when I was 7. Of course, when the power is knocked out because of a thunderstorm, there are always places not affected where you can go to eat, etc....a lot different than a hurricane!

Louise | Italy said...

Wow those hurricanes really do some work, don't they! We used to holiday in the Outer Banks of North Carolina at the end of the summer, until the fourth time in a row we were evacuated because of hurricanes. An experience every time, but not much of a holiday!

Tracy P. said...

Wow, Joy, this post got right past me last week. How did that happen?! Now I need to go back and see what you posted last year after the hurricane.

Thanks for the cool story about the woman from Bulgaria. That was a great way to help Paige get some perspective on life. (I love Susan's comment.)

Julie said...

thanks for that GREAT post... my emotions are all over the place too! Wow. And we have dear friends who are from Bulgaria that worked with us for a year and then moved back. They also work with high school students there, we are hoping to visit them one day and do ministry there with them.

I am sorry about the Hurricane! Glad everyone is okay and that you had great meals with neighbors! That is a blessing

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