Our Family Evacuates...

Bryan finally made it home after a long, gruelling night at the hospital.  He said that they are already getting patients from other hospitals due to evacuation for the hurricane.  Bryan's family decided to evacuate this morning.  They were planning on coming here to stay in Jackson; however, due to terrible traffic, they headed to Tibideaux to stay in a hotel.  Tibideaux is north of Grand Isle, but still south of New Orleans.  I am spending most of the day glued to the television and praying for those in Gustav's path.  I am still very unsettled about where our family has evacuated to, as I do not feel that it is far enough away from the storm.  I think everyone is hesitant about going too far away from home because they want to be able to get back home after the storm passes to see how they have been affected.  I can only imagine how people must feel leaving their possessions, homes, and businesses behind, knowing they may never be the same again.  I am posting a couple of pictures.  One is a map showing where exactly Grand Isle is located in Louisiana.  The other photo is of Gustav's current path.  Please pray for our family!!!

Thoughts of Louisiana

Since all I can think of is our family in Louisiana and the impending Hurricane Gustav, I thought I would post a few recent pictures from our last visit to Grand Isle.  While we were last in Grand Isle, we celebrated our niece's first birthday.  

The first picture is of our nieces and nephew

Brynn, Amaya, and Cory Jay..

The second picture is of Bryan's sister, Rainey, and her husband Albert.

The last picture is of all of us in the marina with Bryan's parents, Susan and Butch.  As you can see, Amaya loved her cake that Ms. Adell made for her.

It was so great to see everyone!

We love and miss them so much!!

Go Away Gustav!!

Well, its official....Gustav is coming into the Gulf and is currently a Category 4 Hurricane and continues to get stronger.  Most of Bryan's family lives in Grand Isle, Louisiana--a fishing town two hours south of New Orleans, or in other small towns on Bayou LaFourche.  Three years ago Bryan's family lost their businesses and their homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.  Since the storm, they have rebuilt everything and have been doing well.  Now this is all being threatened again!  I can't even begin to think about the devastation another hurricane would bring!  I know God is in control of everything.  I know that the people we love are more important than any piece of land or establishment.  If all we had in this world were the people we love, we would still be blessed beyond belief.  We can get through anything as long and we have one another!  All this being said, another storm equal to Katrina or worse, would be anything but easy to recover from only three years later. 

When hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, I did not know the Gaspards yet.  I met Bryan just a month and a half after the storm.  My home in Jackson was without power for a little over a week and the clean up took months.  

Bryan is on call today, so I have been making preparations in case we are again affected by this storm.  I have bought enough food and water, I filled up with gas, and I filled our prescriptions.  I still need to take down my hanging baskets of flowers and move our grill/umbrella/fans off the porch and into the garage.  Fortunately, after a recent tornado when we were without power, we purchased a generator large enough to run our deep freeze, a couple of lights, and our "oh so precious television!"  It is sad how isolated I feel without the television when I am home alone, not knowing what is going on in the rest of the world.  Oh well....   I also have one of those emergency crank radios that are made exactly for the purpose of losing power.  My aunt gave it to us for a wedding gift.  I thought it a little strange at the time, but I am now thankful seeing as how I have already used it and obviously will use it again.....so , Thanks again Carolyn!!

Bryan and I are also preparing for the hospital to get a little crazy.  It is likely that many patients from other hospitals in the path of Gustav will be evacuated to our hospital.  Situations like these always make for chaos at the hospital.  I am glad that Bryan and I work in professions that help people in need.  While we are not able to often help others financially, we are able to offer the gifts of human interaction, comforting words, and medical care.   

Please pray for all people who will be affected by Gustav!  I ask you all specifically to pray that God will protect our family and our friends that are in the path of the storm.  I'll keep you updated on how God blesses our family! 

Novice Blogger

I've resisted creating a blog for some time now.  Not because I don't like blogs but because I wasn't sure if I could keep up with it.  I also wanted to be able to write about real life...not just the good stuff, but also the not so good stuff.  We have all read those blogs that make you think...gee, their lives are so perfect.  No one's life is perfect.  Everyone has ups and downs.  Yes, some hide it better than others.  I am a very open person, so I don't "hide" well.  I prefer to share and ask for prayers.  All of this leads me to the reasons I chose to create a blog:

1. My sister created a blog. As most of you know, my sister, Missy, moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia at the beginning of the summer and I have definitely felt her absence.  Yes, we still talk on the phone all the time, but there is no such thing as TOO much interaction when all of the interaction is via phone/computer.

2.  All of our family and many of our friends live somewhere other than Jackson, MS.  Most of our family and many or our friends live in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana.  Due to our crazy work schedules and limited finances, we only get to see our immediate families every once in awhile and our extended family and friends even less.  I feel like a blog might help us keep in touch with our family and friends better. 

 

3.  We are learning the value of NOW.  Bryan and I are learning how important it is to enjoy life and what we have...RIGHT NOW.  I feel like so often we begin sentences with "when we have...." or "One day we will..."  I think God wants us to to appreciate the gifts we have now, and not always be looking for the gifts of tomorrow.  I feel like a blog may help us to reflect on the things that are going on with us presently.

There are probably a few other reasons I have come to think that a blog is good for us, but these are the three that I feel are the most important.

So.......here goes the Gift of Gaspard!!!  For all who are interested, we will do our best to keep you abreast of what's going on with our little Gaspard family, which we feel is our greatest Gift from God!