Rita Response

Got a call from my sister, Susan, who lives with my parents. Our brother, Bobby, who lives on the outskirts of Houston is on his way to Mom and Dad's house. They left yesterday morning at 2:30 AM. They are in a caravan of three cars. My sister-in-law is driving one car with her invalid mother. My brother has his two male grandchildren with him and my niece has her daughter with her. They only got as far as Livingston, Texas before nearly running out of gas. They were unable to find gas for sale anywhere. They had several cellphones among them and were finally able to get through on one to let my parents know what was happening and to ask if they knew of any churches there that they could get some assistance from. Mom and Dad knew of noone. I got on the internet and found the phone number and called First Baptist of Livingston. At 8:30 in the evening(I forgot to add that it took them 16 hours to get that far-100.97 miles)a gentleman named Brian answered. He was very nice and allowed me to tell him of the situation. He explained that they had a shelter that was full and he thought that there were two other shelters in the town. He said they were trying to keep them open for their own local residents but under the circumstances with the invalid mother-in-law, they might make an exception. So, I prayed and tried to call Bob's cellphone, expecting to hear the same recording "Due to the Hurricane, your call can not be completed at this time..." BUT it rang and Bob answered. I was able to give him the phone number to get in touch with Brian at the church.

Meanwhile, I saw my brother in Anchorage come online and asked him if he knew what was going on. He did not. His mother and father-in-law live 88 miles from Livingston. He called them and gave them Bob's cellphone number. Since they are closer than the 213 miles to our parents, it may be that the caravan can stop there. The Phillips were very gracious to offer to try to help in anyway they could and to open their home to the group.

As of this moment, I have heard nothing. I felt a bit guilty crawling into my nice bed last night and closing my eyes, knowing that my brother and his family may be trying to sleep in a sweltering car on the highway. It made my back hurt to think about it.

I am glad that my family knows Where to go to get help! And I am also glad that no matter what happens we know that God is in control and that ALL things are working out for good!