"I Have No Doubt God Sent You Here"

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards recently attended a special sacrament meeting (Church service) to thank the Mormons for their service in helping with the flood-ravaged areas in the southern parts of the state.

The church members sang, "I Am a Child of God", with the next phrase being, "And He has sent me here." Governor Edwards told those in attendance, "I Have No Doubt God Sent You Here."

I always thought of that phrase referring to earth itself, but it was a thoughtful and clever turn of the phrase. Maybe God sent him there too.

That aside, I know a few people who will wonder to themselves: "Uh, that's nice that you think God sent you guys there, but couldn't he have just *not* sent the rains/floods? So much loss and suffering! And what a colossal waste!"

I think everyone should have an answer to this question in case it gets asked.

For those who don't have one yet, you're welcome to borrow mine till you do. =)

1. A wise man* once told me, "If you wonder whether God sends the storms, or simply allows them to pass -- read the book of Job." Spoiler: God doesn't send the storms, they are part of living in a fallen world. God can, and sometimes does intervene, if the faith and prayers of the people qualify them for miracles, and they align with his purposes. But sometimes he has even greater things in store for us...
2. We exist so we can have joy. (2 Ne 2:25) We think joy comes from ease, comfort, and pleasure -- but God knows joy comes from strength, and from being loved, trusted, understood and feeling that their work is appreciated. And how do we get that? From work, which often looks like service. Why catastrophes? So people can become strong, and have opportunities to serve others, "that the works of God should be made manifest" (John 9:3).

People who served in the Hurricane Katrina cleanup still talk about it as one of the greatest things they ever did.

Maybe this will be one of those experiences for the next generation of people.

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* Thx Bro. Beard!

Weather radio fatigue

I really don't like my weather radio.

I got it for the tornado warnings, but it seems to be going off all the time. Thunderstorms, tornado watches, etc. Even if we snooze it, if something changes in the warning they reissue it and the thing is blaring again. The worst part is that if any part of the county is affected, all of the county is warned, both with the radios and the sirens.

Thanks to our visit to the WAAY TV station with the scouts the other night, I learned that their station has a $7/yr service called "weathercall" that will call your phone or send you a text message* whenever your address is actually threatened by one of those storms.

I love it, no more guilty feelings at 2am when the sirens go off and I go back to sleep, instead of getting up and going downstairs to turn on the TV.

And no, I'm not connected to them at all, I just think it's cool. Hopefully someday they'll have the same thing but keyed off the location of my cellphone...

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* Actually it will call/email up to 3 numbers and 3 email addresses.

UPDATE: It's not just an AL thing, it works for any address across the country.

UPDATE 2: I just got an email from the weatherguy saying that the iPhone app is on its way -- I wonder how it'll know where I am if background apps aren't allowed?

Ike's legacy

Some stunning pictures here.