Still making repairs to Katrina-related damage to our house. It has been a slow process, due to the facts that a) it costs money, and b) I've never been the type who knows all about this stuff. But it has been a great learning experience, and does boost your self-confidence. I would never thought myself capable of doing half of the things I've had to learn to do around here. And since almost everyone is in the same situation, a lot of it I've had to do alone. I have to thank God for giving us the strength to tackle it at all and not just give up. It was extremely overwhelming at first.

The time you spend working on all this also provides a lot of time for reflection, which is something my spirit was in desperate need of. If you are familiar with the Michael W. Smith song, Missing Person, that pretty much sums up my spiritual situation for the past few years. I can honestly say that all of this has brought me closer to Christ than I have been in a long time. And it wasn't a "Ohhh, you have been a horrible person - you better get right" kind of thing at all. More like just a natural progression, a drawing of God's spirit on my heart.

So, to any who would ask (as I have) in light of all the horrible things happening in the world - "If God is such a good God, then why ______" - I'd like to offer these two links, rather than posting it all here. They have both been great encouragements and blessings to me...

Don't Waste Your Life A great article by John Piper on the subject. I originally saw this message on dvd about a month ago, you should check it out. God used it to change the way I was thinking about a lot of things in my life.

If God Is Good, Why? A strong, scriptural answer to the question we all ask at one time or another.

Looking back over my life, I can see a lot of things that happened to me or my family - things that probably should have destroyed us. But I can also see the direct end results of those things, great changes in us without which we would not be the people we are today. So, in spite of it all (or perhaps because of it all), I am convinced that "...all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

*This was cross-posted at my other blog.