When Charley was just off of our coast and we learned that it may hit Tampa or it may hit us, it just wasn?™t the right thing to pray that it not hit our county. It is never right to pray for the hardship to go somewhere else where it may harm somebody else. It is right to accept the will of God and praise Him in it and ask Him what He is trying to show us. When we praise Him IN THE STORM and while in bondage (like Paul & Silas did in prison), then we can expect the chains to come off! We can expect Him to bring us through.

Many people are without work because the storm affected their jobs, while some have plenty of work because their jobs deal in the cleanup effort or medical or handyman work. Either way we see people who are distraught, helpless and hopeless. Kids go back to school tomorrow and their hours are either 6:30 ??11:30 a.m. or 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. This is a hardship to many as it conflicts with parents??work schedules, but another major problem is going to be the sickness that kids and teachers will suffer in the mold infested school buildings. It was already a problem in the schools, but now it is worse.

As I write this the storm Gaston just hit the South Carolina coast today bringing destruction and many there are without power as well as flooding. The Philipines were just hit with a typhoon and there have been major storms in Iowa this week where three counties have been declared a state of emergency. And Hurricane Frances is out there in the Atlantic heading towards Florida if it stays on its projected path. Somewhere next week many people will again, more than likely, lose their homes.

I mentioned earlier that during the day of the storm my faith had wavered at times concerning the safety of our home. I wanted so much to believe that it would be intact and that Zoe, our cat, and our fish would be okay. Just before leaving early that morning I folded our quilt and wanted to take it. Kevin assured me again that everything would be safe so after a moment of thought I put the quilt back down and declared that to be my point of faith. I felt that if I took the quilt it would be due to my lack of faith. (By the way, the quilt was dry and Zoe was a little shook up. My betta (fish) is fine, though we eventually lost the boys??fish with the power off that long.)