Two mortgages, no homes

We closed yesterday on another home on the coast. It is a fixer upper (it had about 5 feet of water in Katrina) and will require a complete renovation. So now we have one lot, one gutted house, two mortgages and no home (I'm not complaining... I only share this to be funny; it's been the running joke around the Leavengood family, the kind folks whom we've been staying with). It is all good though. We're excited about the renovations and are confident that, Lord willing, it will turn out to be a very good investment.

I got to work on it today; a father and his two sons from Virginia joined me, along with Dr. Doug Leavengood. We pretty much gutted the workshop out back. Why, you might ask, are we bothering with the workshop, when the whole house needs work? Well, we plan to use it as a construction office/storeroom during the renovation. It needed to be gutted and it still needs new doors and windows. Anyhow, we should be able to finish cleaning it up tomorrow and start installing the doors/windows tomorrow or Monday.

I plan to take the camera tomorrow and will post some pics soon. I also plan to post a hi-level project overview (i.e. tasks that my faithful readers can sign up for).

By the way, we think/hope we are very, very well insured on this property. We have a fire policy, a wind policy, a flood policy and a liability policy. Basically anything State Farm was selling, I was buying.

Oh, and if you're looking for an outstanding banker, look up John Shappley at The First Bank in Hattiesburg. He took great care of us.

B

Road weary

My current vocation requires rather extensive travel; as our clients are all over the country, I typically leave home every Monday morning and return on Thursday night. I'm home now for the rest of the year and had a moment to reflect on how much I traveled this year.



Some quick stats, since 12/22/04:
Hotel nights
Marriott- 147+ nights, at the following hotels.
-Columbus Renaissance (best Hotel customer service ever, anywhere)
-Columbus Airport Courtyard
-Houston Marriott Westchase
-Casa Magna Marriott Cancun Resort
-Residence Inn Marriott Westchase
-JW Marriott New Orleans
-New York Marriott Marquis Times Square

Magnolia Hotel Houston- 1 night
Le Meridien Cancun Hotel- 2 nights
Total: 150+ nights

Flight Segments
Continental/Northwest
- 158 flights (plus a few extra that didn't get counted when I got rerouted on other airlines)
-89,081 actual miles (plus the extra flights mentioned above)

Points Earned
-American Express: ~48,758+
-Continental OnePass: ~95,000+
-Marriott Rewards: ~213,000+

Time away from wife, home, church and community
150/365= ~41% of total nights away
209/365= ~57% of total days away
~60 % of weeknights slept away
~80% of weekdays spent away

I could come up with more statistics of my lament, but I'll spare you. One huge upside of all this travel is that my job and subsequent income has been pretty much unaffected by Katrina, so we're still pulling in money to defray the costs. We're thankful for that.

B

Lagniappe Church

I mentioned on here a while back that Jean Larroux will be planting a church in Bay St. Louis. I seem to get alot of hits from people looking for him and/or the church plant.

So, if you're looking for him or just interested in his plans, check out his website:
http://www.lagniappechurch.com/

And now the not so good news...

According to this article, the money looks like it might be tied to rebuilding.

Grant recipients also must have had other homeowners' insurance. And they would have to agree to rebuild to meet new codes and to buy flood insurance on the rebuilt structures.

Holly and I are right in the middle of trying to purchase another home that flooded to fix up and live in. Rebuilding on our property had fallen down our list of alternatives for lots of reasons, not the least of which is the time necessary to build from the ground up... 150,000 is nothing to sneeze at... if this turns out to be true it may alter our plans.

B

Good news, I think...

The Federal relief legislation has passed in principle... which is really good news. Below are a few excerpts from the SunHerald article.

Senate and House negotiators officially signed off on $29 billion in spending for hurricane relief, including a bailout of uninsured South Mississippi flood victims...

...Pending its expected passage into law, Cochran's plan includes $11.5 billion in Community Development Block Grants to Mississippi and Louisiana, which the state has flexibility in spending. Mississippi plans to use the bulk of its share - expected to be about $5 billion - on grants to 35,000 devastated homeowners who didn't have flood insurance because federal guidelines said they didn't need it.

"The most likely scenario is grants of a maximum $150,000 each, with, of course, eligibility requirements," said Buddy Bynum, spokesman for Gov. Haley Barbour. "This would be for owner-occupied dwellings, not apartments or hotels. Subtracted from the amount would be any FEMA or insurance payments the homeowners had received."

Now, being a guy who has a pretty low opinion of government, especially at the Federal level and who loves Mississippi but often marvels at the decisions my state government makes, I am still slightly skeptical of how much this will end up helping people like us. I guess you could say I'm cautiously optimistic.

My concern stems from:

1. At the Federal level, the legislation hasn't yet passed and is attached to the defense budget which has some very partisan amendments included in it (ANWR drilling for example). Our Senators/Representatives expect to see it passed into law soon... it'll probably pass, but I'm not counting those chickens yet.
   
   
2. At the State level, I'm waiting to see what the 'elegibility requirements' are. I'm sure these are as outlined in the article as "owner-occupied dwellings, not apartments or hotels" and my skepticism is for nought, but given the propensity of the government thus far to almost exclusively aid those who are unemployed or who had no insurance at all, I am again cautiously optimistic.
   

On top of all that, my preference is that the insurance companies would just pay their claims. I'm in the "less is more" camp when it comes to government and am bothered by the likelihood that Holly and I will be on the dole. On the other hand, it will be nice to get a lot of my tax dollars back and frankly, I think we'll need the money.

Additional good news is that I think this is likely what our insurer has been waiting on to give us their decision. My guess is that they'll come back with a settlement offer soon that is pretty near our policy amount minus the 150,000 grant from the State. When you combine the two, that would be very good and put us in a much better financial position.

Please please continue to pray that the insurance company would pay their obligations, pray that I would live out Peter's admonition to the church to submit to the government:

1 Peter 2: 13-17- ¹³Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. ¹⁵For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. ¹⁶Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. ¹⁷Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

and please pray that the government would be wise in its administration in general and especially in this Katrina relief.

Thanks,

Batch

Truth in Dilbert

Courtesy of my dad.

Thanks Pops.

Wisdom and media bias

James 1: 5- If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

First of all, I am sorry for the lack of updates lately. There is alot to tell, but honestly there are so many decisions to be made and so many unknowns that factor into those decisions and the consequences of those decisions and unknowns so great that we are becoming overwhelmed. So, in the spirit of James, please pray that God would give us much wisdom; we are asking Him for wisdom and asking you to ask Him for wisdom for us and are confident that He will provide.

So, until I gather my thoughts for a more detailed personal update, there's this:

But it becomes more and more obvious that to national media, New Orleans is THE story - to the extent that if the Mississippi Coast is mentioned at all it is often in an add-on paragraph that mentions "and the Gulf Coast" or "and Mississippi and Alabama."

The television trucks and satellite dishes that were seen here in the early days have all but disappeared.

This is a very compelling article in today's SunHerald that discussed the media focus on New Orleans and the implications there are for the Gulf Coast. Give it a read and tell me if you've noticed the bias that the author describes.

While We Were Out…

In the spirit of the popular TLC TV show, the Leavengoods, Dueitts, and Virginia pulled a fast one on us and re-did Laura’s old bedroom into our personal retreat while we were in Columbus, OH a couple of weekends ago! The make-over included repainting the room, purchasing a new comforter (very similar to the one we had on our bed prior to the storm), shower curtain and matching towels and organizing the closet. We were very excited and extremely thankful for the thoughtfulness involved in this surprise. It’s also very comforting to have a space that is all our own that we can call “home.”

When I got home from work on Monday, everyone was here waiting to see my reaction to the surprise. There was a sign on our “old” room saying the shelter had been closed and the occupants had been moved to 1-A Leavengood Road. Here’s the sign on the door to our “new” room.







Michelle and Virginia decided to test our sense of humor and put LOTS of Ole Miss junk in the new room. Notice, the welcome sign is an Ole Miss whiteboard. There was a large gift basket filled with note cards, pens, pencils, etc on the bed as well as pens and pencils hidden throughout the room and closet. I managed to keep the entire room a surprise from Batch. When he got home on Thursday afternoon, he found the perfect place for all of the Ole Miss items…




Here's the finished product...
A couple of details I feel I must point out- the MSU diplomas on the wall courtesy of the Mahnes (see earlier post) and the piece de resistance, the poster size picture of Laura who I must say looks just like her brother, Daniel in that picture! (We love you Laura!)

A blue moon

First a fortnight and now... well, I guess it hasn't been quite that long, but it has been a while. What follows is a brief update of life in the Batchelder household family since my last post.

Drinking with Calvin and Luther
A friend and fellow congregant at FPC removed the remaining book from my wishlist (see books sidebar on the right). Thomas Davis gave me a copy of Drinking with Calvin and Luther by Jim West and thus far it has been everything I expected and more. It, as the title implies, is a superb account of the thoughts of Luther and Calvin on the propriety of good drink, not only for necessity but for pleasure. Some particular quotes of note (I am only in chapter three):

"Whenever the devil harasses you thus, seek the company of other men or drink more, or joke and talk nonsense, or do some other merry thing. Somtimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, aye, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So when the devil says to you: "Do not drink," answer him: "I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to." One must always do what Satan forbids. What other cause do you think that I have for drinking so much strong drink, talking so freely and making merry so often, except that I wish to mock and harass the devil who is wont to mock and harass me."
Martin Luther

"We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or to be satisfied with food... or to be delighted with music, or to drink wine"
John Calvin

These two fathers of the reformation also had very strong thoughts about the use of wine in the sacrament of the Lord's supper. Luther proclaimed in one of his table talk sessions, that "If a person can't tolerate wine, omit it [the sacrament] altogether in order than no innovation may be made or introduced." Calvin likewise shared a similar belief. In learning the catechism, his students were asked, "But why is the body of our Lord figured by bread, and his blood by wine?" To which the appropriate response was that, "by wine the hearts of men are gladdened, their strength recruited, and the whole man strengthened, so by the blood of our Lord the same benefits are received by our souls." Very interesting stuff. I highly recommend the book. If anyone is interested in borrowing my copy, I'd be glad to share (once I'm finished of course).

Insurance Update
No real news. There are rumors swirling, but nobody I know has anything in writing yet. It does appear though that the insurance company has changed their approach at least three times. The first directive was to deny all claims based on the water not wind argument. The second directive was to send out engineers to 'assess' what portion of the damage was water or wind. Now apparently there has been a third directive due to increased pressure from Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale to pay some percentage of claims whereever possible (i.e. if there's any indication of wind damage, the companies are being firmly encouraged to pay something). Maybe the CL revealing the contents of his campaign coffers has helped him see that his future as the MSIC is in question.

Other cool stuff
I think Holly has some things she wants to post, so I won't steal her thunder. Be on the lookout for something from her this week.

Thanksgiving week activities at FPC

A fortnight

So it has been two weeks since I've posted anything... and the last post was that peanuts character dealihoo. It isn't that I've been all that busy, I just haven't had the inspiration to write much lately. Anyhow, what follows is a brief update on the goings on in our life.

Good books-
David and Julie Skinner and family were kind enough to replace my copy of the ESV Reformation Study Bible that was lost in the storm. The previous copy was a gift from Holly upon the occasion of our 5th wedding anniversary/my 30th birthday; I had blogged about it here. Anyhow, I was excited to receive this gift again and have very much enjoyed it this week. I've spent some time reading, re-reading and reflecting on James this week. The insightful commentary that R.C. Sproul and company provide alonside the scriptures have really helped me to enjoy and understand this book. Thanks Skinners!

Insurance Update-
No news is no news. We're still waiting to hear from the adjuster/engineer/anyone. Last we had heard, the engineer was late by about two weeks getting out to do their assessment. Supposedly from the time they do the assessment it takes about another two weeks to deliver the report. We're told they finally got there on October 15th so that theoretically means that we'll hear something next week. Please continue to pray:

1. that the engineer's report is favorable for us and they'll pay
   
2. that Holly and I will continue to be patient with the situation and with one another

But please be careful, because as a friend shared with me today via email, he and a mutual friend from college "used to joke that you shouldn't pray for patience or God would give you something to be patient about".

Bay Saint Louis/Waveland Church Plant-
Heard last week at Friday vespers and again today that a pastor from Independent Presbyterian in Memphis was planning to plant a church on the coast. I dug around a little bit and confirmed that Jean F. Larroux III is indeed coming to the coast to do just that. Here's the text of his letter to that congregation:

JEAN F. LARROUX, III
Assistant Pastor

Members & Friends of Independent,

In the first chapter of the book of Nehemiah an inquiry is made by Nehemiah as to the condition of the city of Jerusalem following the exile of the Jews. He is informed of the walls being broken down and the gates having been burned by fire. The destruction of that city and the condition of his people cuts Nehemiah to the core of his being. While serving the King of Susa he is asked about his fallen countenance. Having prayed and being led by the Holy Spirit he tells the king of that city’s condition and of his passion for that great city.

The king then asked Nehemiah a very pointed question, “What is it you want?”

Nehemiah responded, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.” (NEHEMIAH 2:4-5)

On August 29, 2005, the eye of Hurricane Katrina went ashore in the city where my fathers are buried. I have traveled to the Gulf Coast nearly every week since the storm and still feel her winds every day here in Memphis. There is a downcast part of my soul, deep with sadness and grief, but there is another part which has come to life and continues to grow.

In many ways Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has been my Ninevah, the place where I would never go. It is the place where I grew up. It is a place where most of my years were spent as an unbeliever living like an unbeliever,. If I were to list the ‘places I’d never want to serve,’ Bay St. Louis would have been after Anchorage, Alaska, or the mountains of Tibet. For the past six weeks I have been arguing with God about that list. It seems that the bottom of my list was actually the top of His.

I have requested that the session of IPC ‘send me to the city where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.’ This rebuilding will be physical and spiritual. It is my desire to plant a P.C.A. church in the Bay-Waveland area. It will be a church built out of the rubble that remains. It will be built upon the Gospel of grace through ministry to the survivors as we cry, labor and sweat together to rebuild that city and their lives.

I do not consider myself to be leaving Independent as much as I am taking her passions, her loves and her people to an unlikely church planting spot in America. I can assure you that I wanted to stay in Memphis, but when I became convinced that Memphis would simply be my Tarshish, then I knew I must go.

The details of this transition are still unknown. The full Session of IPC only became aware of this calling at their scheduled meeting Monday night and their support, as you will read in the enclosed letter, has been most encouraging. Suffice to say that Kim and I are committed to the children finishing this school year in Memphis, so they will be here through at least May of 2006.

There are lots of Presbytery committee meetings to follow, funds to be raised and prayers yet to be prayed. Please pray for us and consider how God may use you in this rebuilding. We will not only be asking for the support of our church family in Memphis, but we are asking God to raise up families who will move to the coast with us to live missional lives as part of the re-building and the building of this Gospel outpost on the coast. We want to take Gospel community with us and see lives impacted by the Church. We also want to see IPC remain committed to short-term teams coming to Bay St. Louis to help rebuild homes and build relationships. In the truest sense this church plant will be a ‘daughter’ of IPC.

There is a word in South Louisiana called “lagniappe” (pronounced Lãn-yãp) it means ‘something for free, a little something extra.’ When you get 13 shrimp on a Po-boy that was only supposed to have 12, then that ‘free’ shrimp is called lagniappe. I have been dreaming of a “Lagniappe Presbyterian Church” for the Bay-Waveland area. It is a concept that many people on the coast would never connect- religion and ‘something for free.’ The concept of spirituality and something that you can’t work for or earn doesn’t come easily in a ‘works-based’ culture. The truth of the Gospel just may be that ‘grace’ has been operating in that culture for years with Po-boys and crayfish, but God has now chosen to bring the good news of His lagniappe, grace, to the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

It is my hope and prayer that you will respond the way the people did in the days of Nehemiah when he finally ‘unveiled’ his plan. In Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 18, Nehemiah told them of God’s gracious hand upon him and the call of God in his life. At that point the people responded, “Let us start rebuilding.” And then the text records the following words, “So they began this good work.” Beloved, Let us start rebuilding and begin this good work.

With deep affection and love,

Rev. Jean F. Larroux, III

“I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:1-3

This is great news for the coast. It is shameful that there are hundreds of thousands of people here and only two very small reformed congregations. Please pray that God blesses Jean's efforts and brings His people alongside Jean to do this work and that He would continue to reform the churches and restore his people on the coast.

Edward Frank Mura
Holly's grandfather passed away last week. Alzheimer's had really taken its toll on him and when that was coupled with the stresses of re-locating after the storm (he and his wife Lois lived in Metarie, LA), he succumbed. Please pray for Holly and her grandfather's family that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding would be upon them now.

Rerun...

You are Rerun!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Please blame Scott at Transformatum for this one.

B

Mississippi Renewal Forum

Governor Barbour and his commission have enlisted THE CONGRESS FOR THE NEW URBANISM to help gulf coast residents brainstorm and plan our rebuilding effort. I will be very interested to see what suggestions they come up with. Most of Mississippi (and most of American to be fair) has not been much into cohesive planning of her cities and it shows.

New Urbanism defined, according to cnu.org:

New Urbanism is an urban design movement that burst onto the scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. New Urbanists aim to reform all aspects of real estate development. Their work affects regional and local plans. They are involved in new development, urban retrofits, and suburban infill. In all cases, New Urbanist neighborhoods are walkable, and contain a diverse range of housing and jobs. New Urbanists support regional planning for open space, appropriate architecture and planning, and the balanced development of jobs and housing. They believe these strategies are the best way to reduce how long people spend in traffic, to increase the supply of affordable housing, and to rein in urban sprawl. Many other issues, such as historic restoration, safe streets, and green building are also covered in the Charter of the New Urbanism, the movement's seminal document.

I would love to see the coast renaissance come in the form of "walkable neighborhoods which contain a diverse range of housing and jobs". The Cotton District in Starkville is a renewal effort in this vein, as is Atlanta's Riverside by Post a similar new development.

Hopefully the folks from CNU will make some outstanding, workable suggestions and hopefully our fierce independence and statist pride won't get in the way of what could be a tremendous opportunity to correct some of our earlier city planning mistakes. Stay tuned.

B

Response from Weber-Stephens

I had hoped for a more humorous response, but I'm pleased none-the-less that they're working with retailers to provide discounted replacements.

-------------------------
Hello,

Thank you for your email and sharing the photos. We are so sorry.

Here is some information for you in case you wish to replace the grill.

Weber is working with a number of stores to provide deep discounts on gas and charcoal grills for people affected by Hurricane Katrina. States include Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Eastern Texas. These stores include Home Depot, Walmart and participating True Value stores.

If you require further assistance please let me know.

Sincerely,

Fred Nelson
Weber Customer Service
1890 North Roselle Rd. Ste. 308
Schaumburg, Il 60195
Our Toll Free 800-446-1071
Fax 847-407-8900

Word of the Day for Tuesday August 30, 2005

I was going through some old emails just now and discovered an interesting one from 8/30/05 (the day we 1st returned to see what was left of our home). I have an email subscription to the dictionary.com word of the day and the word on August 30th was as follows:

Word of the Day for Tuesday August 30, 2005

evanescent \ev-uh-NES-uhnt\, adjective: Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; fleeting.

The Pen which gives. . . permanence to the evanescent thought of a moment.
--Horace Smith, Tin Trumpet

Every tornado is a little different, and they are all capricious, evanescent and hard to get a fix on.
--"Oklahoma Tornado Offers Hints of How a Killer Storm Is Born," [1]New York Times, May 11, 1999

The accidentally famous. . . may write books, appear on talk shows, and, in so doing, attract even greater public attention. This type of celebrity status, of course, is brittle and evanescent.
--Lawrence M. Friedman, [2]The Horizontal Society
_________________________________________________________

Evanescent is from Latin evanescere, "to vanish," from e-, "from, out of" + vanescere, "to disappear," from vanus, "empty."

Funny. Sort of.

The untimely demise of a grilling legend...

I thought ya'll might enjoy this.

Below is the text (and pics) of a message I sent to Weber-Stephen Products Company, the maker of the fine grilling machine that was once my Weber Performer (with Touch-N-Go Gas Ignition System) charcoal grill.

I'll let you know if they respond.

--------------------------------
Dear sirs,
It is with great sorrow that I must inform you that one of your dearest offspring has met an early and violent end. When born into this world and adopted by my wife and I, he looked similar to this (but with a maroon kettle). Unfortunately, all the pictures of his once happy life were destroyed in the storm that took him and our home as well.

For more than 5 years he served us well and bathed us with the love only a charcoal grill can provide. His labors provided our family countless steaks, kebabs, shrimp, chicken, vegetables and more. He will be dearly missed. (he first came to live with us in 2000, as he was a house warming present from my wife's mother upon the purchase of our first home, then in Texas)

Below are the pictures of what remains. Although they are gruesome, they do in some way convey his resilience and desire to live. It is clear that he put up the good fight and gave everything he had against the throes of Hurricane Katrina. But alas, she prevailed and he will grill no more. We can take pride in his life as a loyal and trustworthy grill as well as in his valiant battle against death.










Please pass along this tragic news to his family along with our deepest condolences.

Regretfully,

William and Holly Batchelder
Formerly of:
1438 East Beach Blvd
Gulfport, MS 39501

Ecclesiastes 8:14-17

¹⁴ There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. ¹⁵ So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.

¹⁶ When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth—his eyes not seeing sleep day or night- ¹⁷ then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.

After the Tsunami, Jerram Barrs (Professor of Contemporary Culture and Resident Scholar of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Seminary) preached this sermon about responding to the suffering that it brought. The biblical principles contained in here are entirely applicable to how we as Christians should respond to life post-hurricane. I highly recommend it. It is an articulate and clear presentation of truth (he doesn't overwhelm the listener as some seminarians tend to do) AND as if that weren't enough, he's British so it is fun to listen to.

Home improvement...

No more info from the insurance company. The engineer is supposed to be out to the house today or tomorrow. Travel along the gulf coast is wearying (too many cars, too few streets) and trying to get flights is becoming more difficult too. I missed my flight Monday because on-line check in didn't work and traffic was far worse than I expected. I got there in time to get on the plane but they wouldn't check me in. Anyhow, I was around town some yesterday and took some more interesting pictures.

Hand-crafted this new sign for our House on Monday.


Found more of my previously referenced old friend...

This is his heart
and this his soul.

East Ward School (across Thornton Ave from our house) from the outside...

... and from the inside.

The softer side of Sears...(on the beach in Biloxi).

This is Hardy Court Cinema. It is located about 2 miles east and a mile north (inland) of our home in Gulfport .

Diplomas

Pics as promised...

MS House OKs $100M grant program

An excerpt from the Clarion Ledger article:

HB 41 would create the Mississippi Disaster Home Flood Grant Fund to grant a maximum of $25,000 to homeowners whose houses flooded in the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina and they did not have flood insurance. A requirement for the grant would be that residents have to take out disaster assistance loans from the Small Business Administration.

The good news is that this bill, if passed, would create a grant that would give homeowners up to $25,000 to help pay for “flood damage” from the storm surge.

But did you notice the catch? To qualify for the grant, residents have to take out loans from the SBA. Now, as a small government kind of guy, I’m conflicted over all of this in the first place. But lets set that aside for a moment and think about the people who might be applying for this grant.

According to this site, the average home price in Harrison County is $120,143. In Gulfport it is $113,747. In Biloxi it is $125,421. In Ocean Springs it is $129,575. Nearer to the water (and subsequently nearer to the damage) the values are considerably higher. Anyhow, lets use the averages and say a homeowner/mortgage-payer who needs this grant has put 20% down on their home and paid down the mortgage for 5 years. This hypothetical Biloxi/OS/GPT homeowner in need of a grant has remaining debt of ~90,000 dollars, 25 years left on a 30 year loan at 5.5% and no house. Based on a $90/sf cost (before hurricane inflation and new building codes), to rebuild a 1,700 square foot home would be around 153,000.

153,000 Rebuilding Cost
- 25,000 Grant
+90,000 Original Debt
218,000 Total Debt
160,000 Rebuilt Value?
- 58,000 Differential

Before the storm the homeowner’s mortgage payment was around $550/month. Now to live in the same place in a comparable home, the payment is nearly $1,240/month, 225% more than a month ago AND in this example they have negative equity.

Now, I suppose the real estate market will adjust and comparable home prices will simply inflate to reflect the increased cost of ownership IF there are people who can afford to pay those kind of prices. But whether that happens or homeowners are left paying more than their homes are worth may be irrelevant if those same people can’t afford either scenario.

Now, I know that the MS legislators intentions are the best and they are likely trying to prevent abuse of the system. But frankly, people don’t need more debt. We need real relief (preferably from the insurance companies and not the state) and tying the state relief to additional debt will only increase the burdens of these people. If the homeowner in the above example could miraculously find a way... pool his own savings, this grant, maybe some other grants/gifts and not incur any more debt, why should the government discourage him from doing so?

Ya’ll tell me what you think. Am I being belligerent? Does the example hold water? Am I missing something?

B

Great gulf coast updates....

Can be found at www.jonswerens.com.

Jon is visiting the coast from Fort Wayne, IN as a page designer/copy editor for the SunHerald. Jon also plays the piano quite well and sat in this weekend at First Pres Biloxi. He did an outstanding job.

Anyhow, I've heard rumblings of frustration from out there that the only news they see is from New Orleans. If you need some news from the Mississippi coast, check out Jon's site. You can always go over to http://www.sunherald.com/ as well.

B

General Update on Life after Katrina

I’ve been a little delinquent in my posts of late. After three weeks on the coast, I returned to “work” last week (well, at least the work that pays the bills) and that return coupled with the associated travels to Ohio have reduced the time available to post. So, here goes a summary of what is going on with us lately.

Unbelievably, remarkably, inconceivably blessed

That may sound trite, but I hope ya'll understand that I really, really mean it. Holly and I are flabbergasted at the generosity of so many people right now. God is working and moving in ways that we have never experienced. People have given us the clothes out of thier closets, money (and not just a little), food, shelter, discounts and more. Just today, the doctor wouldn't let me pay the co-pay. People are calling me asking where they can send money. I get emails asking where care packages can be sent. And the amount of encouragement and compassion from all over the country and the world seems to know no bounds. Please offer thanks to God for all of the blessing that have been showered upon us these past few weeks. And of course thanks to all of you who have been the vehicles of that blessing.

Wind Policy Insurance Adjuster

After three mostly unproductive calls to FARA (the insurance provider for the state insurance cooperative), I finally called Bobby Huebner, the adjuster, directly again Monday to find out what we should expect in terms of next steps (this is the same fellow who had previously told Holly upon his initial visit to our ‘home’ that it ‘looked like a water event’). I expected that he would tell us that we would receive some sort of official denial documentation from the insurance company so that we could move forward with FEMA, etc…. However, he is in the process of securing an engineer to come out and do a ‘wind versus flood assessment’ on our property. He said that should happen this weekend. After that, he’ll follow up with us to let us know the results. I’m not exactly sure how they can make that determination so I’ll be interested to see what they come back with. I guess right now we’re just hopeful that they will at least provide some sort of compensation… it certainly doesn’t seem as though they intend to pay the full amount. Continue to pray that God will provide.

Homeowners Policy

They said we’re not covered but that they would provide 2 weeks worth of living expenses. If anybody has any ideas as how to come up with a number (we’ve been staying with friends who have most graciously opened their home to us), please let us know (yes, this is a shameless request for blog comments).

Diplomas

Some of our dearest friends did something very special for Holly and I. We hadn’t been able to visit with them since the storm as they’re temporarily living in and have put their children in school in Jackson, MS. Anyhow, last weekend they were on the coast and we finally got to see them. When they showed up they had in hand very nicely framed and matted copies of our MSU diplomas. Jenny and Bubba (he only gets some credit for this because he was smart enough to marry her) had contacted Mississippi State and they were able to reproduce our diplomas from their archived records. In fact, they look even better now than before as the frames and mattes now match (the originals had been separately framed before H & I were married). We had thought we might be able to try to get that done at some point but it was very, very, very kind of J&B to take care of this for us. So, many, many thanks to J&B and their brood. I'll try to post pictures later... the ones I took on Sunday didn't come out so well (I think the battery was nearly dead).

Slowly Very Quickly

I’m sure I am waaaay behind in this proclamation, but Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 ROCKS. I’ve listened to it before, but until today hadn’t really paid that much attention to it. I Googled it and came up with this very interesting Wikipedia entry. I highly recommend these tunes.

Catastrophe Services...

Well, at least we have some information.

Our adjuster, Robert Huebner, met Holly today at our address. As I wasn't able to be there, Brad, husband of one of Holly's colleagues, went with Holly to meet Huebner. As it was described to me, Huebner asserted that our damage was entirely a 'water event' and that there was 'no wind involved'. When pressed about how he knew that the house was destroyed by water and not wind there were some mutterings about historical events and getting an engineer out to look at our site. Or something.

Anyhow, this is in some way progress. At least we have met with the adjuster and we can begin to move forward. We are still waiting to hear from our standard homeowners insurance company.

Keep praying.

B

Adapted from Psalm 91

This Psalm was commended to me by a reader here. As I reflected on it this morning I was drawn to adapt it slightly to make it my own prayer.

Most High and Merciful and Almighty Heavenly father, allow me to rest in your shadow. Be my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. Save me from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. Cover me with your feathers, provide me refuge under your wings; may your faithfulness be my shield and rampart.

Protect me from the terror of night, and from the arrow that flies by day, from the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, and the plague that destroys at midday. Thousands may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand, but may it not come near me. May I only observe the punishment of the wicked.

O Most High, allow me to dwell in you, the LORD, who is my refuge- then no harm will befall me, no disaster will come near my tent. For you O LORD will command your angels concerning me and to guard me in all my ways; they will lift me up in their hands, so that I will not strike my foot against a stone. I will tread upon the lion and the cobra; may I trample the great lion and the serpent.

Because I love you O LORD, rescue me; protect me, for I acknowledge your Almighty name. When I call upon you, answer me; be with me in trouble, deliver and honor me. Satisfy me with long life and show me your salvation… show me your salvation.

Insurance Adjuster

They called Holly this morning (September 21, 2005) and said they would be at the 'house' around 2PM. I am in Columbus, OH.

I called the adjuster's scheduler/assistant and asked if they could be flexible with the time. They couldn't say when they expected to be back in the area. I can't get back to the coast from Ohio by 2PM so Holly is going out there with a friend.

Please pray that all would go smoothly, that the adjuster will treat Holly respectfully, that Holly will do the same for the adjuster and that the insurance company will find favorably for us. May God grant us peace in this very tumultuous time.

Batch

Friday Vespers

A group of men from First Pres Biloxi had started a Friday afternoon ritual of beer and fellowship. The first floor of this building housed the Irish Coast Pub, the place where this tradition got started. We had begun referring to our ritual as 'Friday Vespers'. We'll resume our meetings soon, but we'll necessarily have to find another regular location to meet. No word yet on when (or whether) the IC will rebuild.

Rita

Keep an eye on her and pray she goes away.

Lots to be thankful for....

I posted a few pics today. Sort of a random assortment.

This one is of my tool chest. I went down to the beach Friday (I think... the days run together) and looked around. I found this and was able to pull it out with my truck. I was able to salvage a socket set that my brother in law gave me a few years ago (thanks Steve). I think with some elbow grease and a little WD-40 they should be nearly good as new. I had fun driving on the beach and tearing the tool box apart to get to my stuff inside.



INSURANCE UPDATE:

I finally today (Monday, September 19th... 13 days since initially filing a claim) got word from the insurance company that we have been assigned an adjuster. Keep praying that they will find favorably for us.

DAWGS WIN, rebs LOSE:

Nuff said.

MARRIOTT RENAISSANCE- Columbus, OH:
I have never been treated so kindly at a hotel. Ever. Period. Ever. I returned tonight after being gone for these last 3 weeks to hugs, cheers, smiles, genuine concern and love. They left a nice meal and some cold beer in the room for me. They asked about my wife. They offered their compassion and assistance. All of that on top of regularly (my work requires frequent travel and I've been staying here week to week for the last 11 months) providing the most considerate, attentive, thoughtful service of any enterprise I have ever frequented. If you are ever in the Columbus area, stay here.

SMITH & BYARS- Starkville, MS:
My dad came down this week along with Wiley Dean. They spent a couple of days working on crews clearing up debris and tarping roofs. Before leaving home, Dad had stopped by a men's clothing store I enjoy going to when I'm visiting Starkville and told the proprietor about how we had fared in the storm. Long story short, Sammy Smith put together a package of 3 very nice shirts and 2 great ties (EDITED 9/21/05- AND A NICE PAIR OF SHOES) to send down with Dad. If you're in Starkvegas and need nice men's clothes, please go see Sammy.
Map of
Smith & Byars
122 W Main St
Starkville MS

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN BILOXI:
The relief center continues to do great work. There are hundreds of workers coming in each week to provide relief to the community. Again, if you are interested in coming here and helping in a very real way, please contact the church office at 228.374.6881. All types of workers are needed from tree removal to tarping to kitchen staff to organizers to data entry and pretty much everywhere inbetween. Thanks to all of you who have already come and lent a helping hand.

Beauvoir, home of Jefferson Davis.

Bobby & Laura playing princess.

This rather large machine made short work of the pile of debris in front of our hosts' home.

Note from a child (pinned to Winnie the Pooh)...

Everybody is praying except for Winnie the Pooh and 'Belle.

MS Insurance Commissioner

State Insurance Commissioner George Dale told lawmakers Tuesday that homeowners who did not have separate flood coverage and lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina's waters are probably out of luck with insurance companies.

Article here.

First worship service in the sanctuary at FPC Biloxi

Notice the only broken pane of glass in the sanctuary (lower right)...

Pictures of the house and contents from Friday...

Our house (foreground), David & Judy's, Alva's and the East Ward school.

Old-school lawnmower

Desk lamp

Closet without walls

Clothes growing on trees.

Neighbors car under what remains of his house.

Holly with Granny's table.

Beach & Thornton.

East Ward school.

Dyson available, barely used. Cheap.

RIP old friend

Electric service

Skilsaw