If I had known this photo was going to be used three years later on a blog, I would have taken better care to set up the shot. But this is what I have to work with (according to the rules of the photo tag game, find more info below), and the story is the interesting thing anyway.

Pictured in this photo is all our worldly goods … all that we deemed important and essential for life when we evacuated for Hurricane Katrina … three pillows, one clothes basket filled with non-perishable foods, essential medicines, and a couple of my daughters favorite things, AND two suitcases stuffed with important documents, backup disks of our computer, and a few outfits for each of us, including work clothes and gloves because we knew we’d likely be using chain saws and doing a lot of yard and fence work after the storm. These are the things we hurriedly packed before we left our home, which would find itself in the eye of the storm, and headed 100 miles east to ride it out with my mom.

We had NO CLUE how life-changing that storm would be when we packed those few items, nor how attached we would be to that clothes basked filled with food and meds. We soon began to refer to it as our super-sized lunch box! It was really more like a portable pantry, and we kept it with us at all times for about three weeks, until our power was restored and we were receiving help from relief teams from around the world.

This tall pine tree landed only a few feet from the side of our house. It pulled some trim work off the overhang, ripped the power panel off the house, and two of it’s limbs poked holes through our roof, but we were so very thankful it didn’t crush our house.	Our backyard was neck deep in limbs after the storm, but our home was still standing and it only received minimal damage compared to others around us.
The shed we had put in our back yard only a few weeks before was crushed! But the Lord lovingly protected our bikes from being damaged. They were our main transportation in the days following the storm, because there was such limited supply of gas and LOOONG lines to get what was available.	Five days after the storm, I was very sick with a urinary infection, which I had been on meds for prior to the storm. Our hospital had been closed, due to storm damage and so had my doctor’s office. I was beginning to feel panicky because I was running a fever and having chills and a lot of discomfort. I was VERY thankful when a mash unit from Florida rolled in and set up camp!
The North Carolina Baptist Relief Team set up camp at First Baptist Picayune and began serving two meals a day. First they served behind the church, but the response was so great that it had to be moved across the street to the city park.	Here were are, only a few days after the storm, resting in the shade of First Baptist Church and enjoying a spaghetti dinner which had been prepared by the North Carolina Baptist Relief Team. Our family chose to accept one meal per day from the church and eat from our super-sized lunchbox for our other meals.
Here is the new food line across the street from the church … we lined our vehicles up and drove slowly past the servers who handed the appropriate number of plates through the window. It was a very well planned and executed relief effort, and we VERY MUCH appreciated it.	We couldn’t believe the sacrifices that people made to come help us get back on our feet. This is where the relief teams who feed us slept for several weeks … with no electricity and no A/C, in temps near 100 degrees and extremely humid weather. We can’t thank you guys enough!

If you prayed for us, sent money, or came down and worked with a relief team during that season of recovery, I want to thank you on behalf of all of us. You can’t imagine how much we appreciated it or how humbled we were as we watched God working mightily during that recovery effort. He worked quiet miracles, and He also worked in a very public display of love, shown through the many, many hands that labored to help us get back on our feet. At some point, I started recording the moments I recognized His handiwork, and I was amazed that He was spending so much time with us. Then I realized that He was probably always that busy in our lives, we just hadn’t been looking for Him as eagerly.

I wrote this post in response to a friendly game of photo tag. My friend, Julie, from Pearls In a Nutshell, tagged me, and I dreaded the thought of what my qualifying photo MIGHT be, knowing there are several never-to-be-seen, bad-hair-day shots of me in those folders. Boy, was I relived when I opened that photo of our super-sized lunchbox!

I’m supposed to tag four friends, so here are the rules …

1.Open the 4th picture folder on your computer
2. Open the 4th picture in that folder and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture, and include a link back to the one who tagged you.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same!

… And here are my choices:

1. Drewe Llyn at Palms of His Hands
2. Brenda at Coffee Tea Books and Me
3. Mary at CanadaGirl Raising 4 Godly Men
4. Denise at Shortybear’s Place

Also, I am very pleased to list this post in the following blog carnivals …

• “GratiTuesday” @ Heavenly Home Maker
• “Thankful Thursday” @ Grace Alone
• “Show and Tell Friday” @ There’s No Place Like Home
• “Show and Tell Friday” @ Canadagirl
• And last, but not least, “Photo Story Friday”

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

My daughter and I shared a lifetime memory today. It snowed at our house for the first time in her life … and she is 14 years old! Living in the Deep South does not lend itself to ‘White Christmases,’ yet it is still the dream of every child.

There was a light dusting on the Magnolia leaves.	And a dusting on the hood of our truck.

We had about four and a half hours of snow, but no accumulation on the ground. Still, it was a wonderful day filled with excited phone calls and photo shoots! My FaceBook friends were all chattery, and beautiful snow pics were posted and commented on all day. Our neighbors only 30 minutes north of us had a couple inches stick and they posted the most beautiful snow pics. Even our friends in New Orleans got a couple inches of snow. That almost NEVER happens!

At times the snow was quite heavy, with large flakes! My daughter took this pic of me at the edge of the woods when the larger flakes were falling.

And I took this pic of her later, when the flakes were a bit smaller. She was trying to catch them in her mouth. It was the first snow McKenzie has seen at home, and I’m thankful that she got to experience it. She had a ball … and made a lovely memory to last a lifetime!

I am pleased to list this post at …

• “Thankful Thursday” @ Grace Alone
• “Show and Tell Friday” @ There’s No Place Like Home
• “Show and Tell Friday” @ Canadagirl
• And last, but not least, “Photo Story Friday”

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Keeping it real,

Monday evening we kicked off the Christmas season in our hometown with the 2008 Christmas Parade. Unfortunately, Benjy had to work, but McKenzie and I joined our good friends for a very windy and cool evening of fun. Here are a few pics of our parade experience.

Early in the day, we parked our little truck on the parade route to reserve a nice spot. We were so glad to have it there that night because we were able to spread a blanket out, sit on the tailgate, and sip hot cocoa while we waited for the show to begin.	After we parked the truck, we walked the two miles back home. I just had to stop and admire these pansies at our local high school.
At 6:00pm, the parade began! We had pompoms …	And marching bands …
And junior military groups with flags …	And rifles …
We don’t get snow in our coastal climate, so we ‘manufacture’ our own snowmen and snowflakes!	McKenzie and her good friend and I, enjoying the parade. Do we look cold? We were!
More pompoms and bands!	We had antique trucks …
And fire trucks …	And my favorite truck!
We had a barn house …	A gingerbread house …
And a church house!	And the STAR of the parade … Baby Jesus in a nativity scene!
Oh … and we had this guy and his wife!	And, as always, the beautifully dressed horses were at very end of the procession.

We are seeing political correctness steal away the things we have long valued and enjoyed in our nation, so I am very thankful we live in an area where the people still get together and celebrate Jesus’ birth … and ACTUALLY include Baby Jesus in the celebration.

I am pleased to list this post at …

• Everyday Elegance’s “My Favorite Things Monday”
• Grace Alone’s “Thankful Thursday”
• Heavenly Home Maker’s “GratiTuesday”
• Canadagirl’s “Show and Tell Friday”

And last, but not least, Photo Story Friday …

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Keeping it real,