My Thoughts on Katrina

I'm almost reluctant to write about Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath - so much has already been written, including an inspiring Post by my sister. But I do have a few little comments I'd like to make.

There's lots of talk about what will be uncovered when the city of New Orleans is pumped out. All the articles I've read quote someone saying how "shocked" America will be. My question is this - why is it necessary to shock the American public? Do we have to see pictures of decomposing bodies floating through alleyways? The information we hear and see is FAR too graphic. Seeing these pictures and hearing in detail about the worst of what is uncovered will not sensitize us, it will only harden us. I, for one, have no desire to see pictures of somebody's loved ones dead, diseased, or maimed just for the horror factor.

I also think entirely too much is being made over lack of federal assistance or the delay in receiving federal help. It seems to me this is just an opportunity for lots of democrats to slam a Republican President. Anyone who watched early coverage of the hurricane could see that the information being relayed to the federal government was inaccurate and confusing. Over and over again this has been explained. You can't help people when you can't get accurate information as to what kind of help and how much is needed. Let's stop the remarks about the President "killing" this or that person because they didn't receive assistance soon enough. GET REAL!!! If they had left when they were told, urged, begged to, your loved ones wouldn't have died. I don't mean to sound harsh but many of the people hardest hit are looking for a scapegoat. A natural disaster is NOT something President Bush can be blamed for.

One last comment - I have a friend who is Cajun and all her family is in Louisiana. One of her sisters lives in Slidell, an area devastated by Katrina. She told me the other day that before her sister and brother-in-law evacuated, they put Holy Water around the periphery of their property and prayed over their home, asking for God's protection. When they returned to Slidell to look over the damage to their property, they discovered their home completely intact, except for one window which had been blown out. No shingles were damaged, the flood waters had stopped short of them, and all their possessions were still there. Her brother-in-law began to help his neighbors, whose homes had been flattened, dig through the sludge to try and find some of their possessions. He said it made him physically ill, it was so stressful and sad. And there was his home, in almost perfect shape.

Do not kid yourself - this is a spiritual battlefield. Perhaps the hurricane was just a natural consequence of the way God created earth, but the evil one is attempting to use it for his glory. GOD WILL WIN!!! He will NEVER be defeated, not even by Katrina, but we can help our fellow Americans who have lost everything by praying for them: pray that their possessions are not plundered, pray that the floodwaters quickly are able to be drained, pray that God will provide the financial means for them to care for their families and to rebuild, and pray for their protection, both physical and spiritual, in this battle.

In another arena, today was the first day of school and I SURVIVED! It was very quiet in the house and Daelyn spent a lot of the day playing outside, but I got a lot accomplished and didn't even feel lonely. The Lord is gracious.