I have had the dubious pleasure of living through a few hurricanes in my years on the East and Gulf coasts, but nothing comes quite close to Houston’s Hurricane Ike last night.

The torrential rains and 90 mph winds are two things I do not look forward to riding out again in the near future. I thought I had seen fierce winds before, but they were nothing compared to what occurred when the full wrath of the storm blew in around 4:00 am Saturday.

By now, I’m sure most of you have seen the effects of the storm on the news. Our family was blessed to escape with lots of downed limbs, battered plants, and a few inches of water in my bedroom carpet. My dad is a genius electrician and computer technician, so we already have half the house functioning on generator power and miraculously, our fiberoptic cable TV and internet is still up—even though most of the city is without power.

Through it all, it has been wonderful to see God’s hand of blessing and protection. So far, most of our friends and family in the Houston area have been accounted for, and although almost all of us sustained damage in one or more ways, God sovereignly protected us in the midst of the storm.

Here are a few images from our neighborhood:

Unfortunately, not everyone had this minimal amount of damage. As I’m writing this, I’m watching KHOU which is showing footage of Kemah, Clear Lake, and other low-lying areas that are completely inundated with water. Whole neighborhoods are under water, and I’m asking God to bestow His grace on the people who will be rebuilding their homes and lives.

Thank you all for your prayers as millions of Texans get back on their feet in the days ahead!

“The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” – Psalm 29

By the way, please let me know how you are doing by leaving a comment below. Cell phone reception is sporadic at best, so this might be one of our only ways to communicate for a few days!