A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks.
First, a category one hurricane by the name of Hermine decided to visit Carrabelle, Florida. To ready Annie for the storm, I went to Home Depot, purchased four building anchors, (you know, the kind they use to strap down mobile homes and storage sheds), drove to the boat, located my hurricane straps that came with the boat, and secured her four corners. The marina brought two more stands, (they are stand poor here because Annie has had only four stands since she arrived here). Once the stands were added, Annie was adequately propped up and strapped down. All we could do was wait for the storm. I did not stay on the boat, but rather drove to Tallahassee to stay with my elderly mother, (people take precedence over boats).
The night of the storm, I sat glued to The Weather Channel and though the storm was predicted to make landfall directly at Carrabelle, as I watched the reporter on TWC, I noticed the wind didn't appear so strong; I was hopeful. Because Carrabelle was on the Northwest side of the storm, the winds and rain were considerably lighter; most of the storm's force was on the Southeast and East side. I was still concerned that the stands that kept Annie upright would give way under Hermine's 80+ MPH winds and Annie would fall on her side. As the night progressed, Tallahassee went dark; 80 percent of the city's power grid was dead and the capital of Florida spent a very long and dark night waiting for daylight. Needless to say, I did not sleep well.
The next morning, at 7:00 AM I left Tally and headed for The Forgotten Coast, (tough it was far from forgotten in the mind of this sailor). The normal hour and fifteen minute drive took over two. None of the traffic signals worked and there were lots of confused drivers out. Most of them were just curious, a few were working, some were electric company employees, some were trying to get down to the coast to check their homes, and at least one was trying to get down to his boat.
When I arrived and rounded the corner to the boatyard, Annie was still standing. I offered up a prayer of thanks.
Second, God has opened a door for me to teach/preach. The local preacher for Capital City Christian Church, Allen Gonzalez, put his feelers out for me and through a process of a few contacts and phone calls, I will be preaching/teaching at a small Christian Church for the next 262 days. I am thankful God continues to bless this mission.
Third, a survey trip is about to happen. On September 27th, I, and a missionary/minister friend, will be flying to Saint Lucia to better gather needed information and insight as to the setting up of Saint Lucia School of Ministry. There are numerous things that will be accomplished on this survey trip and I will report on the trip via this blog, (with tons of pictures).
Please keep this mission in you prayers.
God bless you!
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