Ready for storms?

Personal News
My family and I had a wonderful time in NW Arkansas last weekend. It was very relaxing and lots of fun to reconnect with people we hadn't seen for 10 years. The most fun was seeing everyone's kids! John Brown University's campus looks better than ever, and it made me wish I could be a student again!

Personal Thought
I have lots I've wanted to blog about this past week, but busyness has kept me from it. I'm squeaking out a minute I should probably use elsewhere to post a story I got in my email inbox. It is told by a Joe McKeever, Director of the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans. His website is a great place to keep up with what is happening in New Orleans, particularly among many of the churches. In a recent entry, Joe talked about visiting one church where the hurricane and resulting flooding literally tore the bricks off the church structure.

"How can a storm tear the bricks away from a church like that?" I asked Ed and Freddie, both of them builders. "Look here," one of them said. A quick inspection showed that the workers who constructed St. Bernard Church had not tied the masonry to the wood structure of the building. The metal ties were there, but it was a rare one that was fixed into the masonry. I said, "How can you be sure the workers are tying your brick and your house together?" They both answered, "Be there and watch it done. Or know your contractor."

"For years that little church has sat there looking strong. As sturdy as a brick house, we might say. Paul Gregoire, admissions director for our seminary, has been pastor of that church longer than any other minister in our association. When the storm came, it revealed a weakness in the construction no one had ever noticed. There's a sermon there. Life's storms do not cause the weaknesses; they reveal them. That's why in the good times, when we're well and the children are behaving and the bills are paid, this is the time to make sure of the solid construction of our lives, our faith, our relationship with the Lord. Because sooner or later, the storm is coming."

So what are you doing to get ready for the storms that will come?