July 17, 2011 – Sunday

I slept in until 8 am this morning—what a treat!!! As I was almost finished with my worship time, I heard a familiar sound that I’ve been missing…"meow, meow." Looking out my window, I saw a cute little grey kitty, so I opened my door, called, “Here kitty, kitty,” & proceeded to get acquainted with a new furry friend. It was nice for me to have a little “pet therapy,” since I’m missing my cat back home. When I was talking to the housekeeper, she said that the owners of the motel have two grey cats. When I went to pick up Andrew, one of them went running into his room & hid under the bed—he doesn’t like cats—but finally I was able to coax him back outside.

On the top of our “to-do list” for today is a visit to the Laundromat. With the extremely hot & humid weather [my thermometer registered 110° today]; it’s wonderful to replenish our supply of clean clothes. There were some children there & they were irresistibly drawn to Andrew, joyously showering us with bubbles from their battery operated bubble guns.

After the Laundromat, we restocked out groceries & other supplies at Wal-Mart. Then we went back to our rooms & changed our clothes so we’d be more appropriately attired for them rest of our adventures for the day. Andrew treated me to a delicious mid-afternoon meal at the local Chinese restaurant, Bam-Boo Gardens & then we drove into Joplin to photograph the unbelievable destruction. Pastor Seek had described it to us yesterday as “a tornado that acted like a hurricane!!!” What an accurate description!!!!!

We drove all through the huge affected area. As we were outside the car photographing the area around the hospital that was destroyed, a car pulled up to me & the man inside asked me if I’d ever seen damage like that before. As we visited a little bit, he pointed out the lot where the house he’d grown up in used to stand. Most of the debris has been hauled away & the only clues to its past were a slab of concrete & a hole in the ground. His daughter had been living in the house, but was at her parents’ home eating supper when the storm hit. His son living a few blocks away had watched in horror as the path of the storm widened & swallowed everything in its path. Just a block from this man’s property, were the homes his grandfather & great grandfather had built—they are still standing, but damaged beyond repair. I took his picture next to Andrew on the site of his home. His courage is inspiring, & he’s planning to rebuild.

When Andrew & I got back to the motel, we spent some time reviewing information in our manuals & doing some planning for tomorrow. I wrote out a primitive checklist for me to follow, but both of us wish we had some written documentation & guidelines to follow. We had a serious season of prayer together, claiming God’s promises for direction as we give ourselves to Him to use tomorrow in managing the WH & office operations.

It’s getting late & we’ve already put some of our stuff in the van for tomorrow—I accidentally locked myself out of my room in the process. Fortunately the motel owner was very gracious to me, even chuckling at my dilemma. It’s time for me to shower & get some sleep—we’re heading out at 6 am in the morning so we can pickup ice for the coolers in the WH & arrive refreshed & ready to go.

Thanks for your continued prayers—we’re heading into the most challenging stretch of our time here!!!

Good night from Missouri—God’s hand is here & we are so blessed to experience His presence & be used by Him!!!!!!!!!