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