St. Bernard State Park, Braithwaite, Louisiana
When Judah saw her (Tamar), he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” ~ Genesis 38:15-16a How far Judah has fallen from his roots! He left his family, went into the Canaanite world with his best friend instructing him in the ways of the world, his first two sons were so wicked God removed them from earth, he dismisses God’s levirate law, and now he’s soliciting a prostitute. And this is the ancestor God has chosen to bring the Messiah from? This clearly demonstrates how God can use any of us to fulfill His will. None of us has fallen so far from His Grace that we cannot be redeemed, loved and serve His purposes. The Bible is filled with such people. Certainly Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had their flaws. David (“a man after My own heart” Acts 13:22) had someone murdered so he could claim the guy’s wife. Paul persecuted the very people who were spreading the Gospel. And many, many more. It doesn’t give us free license to do whatever we want; instead it demonstrates God’s Love for all people. When we sin, we repent and strive to do better because we love Him.
We chose to attend First Baptist Church of Chalmette this morning. It’s one of those churches that puts their ‘personal’ information in their bulletin (remember bulletins? 😊). There were nice people to welcome us. They have a large, beautiful sanctuary. But they have no people. The building proclaimed there had to have been, at bare minimum, several hundred at one time. We were told at the door that they’re in transition because their former pastor retired, but we suspect there’s more to the story than that. First of all, they were just putting together a search committee. As I mentioned there were few parishioners. Their bulletin stated their attendance was 24 last Sunday morning and 6 at their evening service. This morning, there weren’t too many more than that. The bulletin also shared that they were already $8,000 behind for their annual budget. We said a lot of prayers for this floundering church. Please pray for them in their struggle. They seem to be godly people who love the Lord and His people. On our way home, I looked up the population in the town and discovered that since Hurricane Katrina, they’ve lost half their population. Pre-Katrina, there were over 32,000. Today, 17,000. We wondered where they all went and if that has contributed at all to the low numbers.
This afternoon, before Blaine got into the playoff football games, we took a drive and then walked a few brisk miles around the Park’s roadways. Our bodies are missing the exercise we’ve had for the past few weeks. Strolling around the French Quarter and museum walking doesn’t cut it. Especially with the way we like to eat. 😊 We had thought that we’d be able to get out the kayak and paddle around the bayou some, but the winds were too strong today. Sigh . . . .
They close them to help with flooding.
I don’t know what happens to those on the wrong side . . .
Hopefully, they’ve evacuated, but there are homes on both sides.
Whether or not it’s from Katrina, we couldn’t say.
Fishing is very important in this area of LA.
What I want to know, is how they get ’em up there without cracking ’em. . . .
Don’t know if it’s part of it or not.
164 people lost their lives in St Bernard Parish during Katrina.
We wondered where they came from since it’s mostly marsh around here.
During our drive, we discovered that Louisiana is the blue crab capital of the world! Who knew?!? But we were right in guessing Maryland. It used to be. Until they began having problems with Chesapeake Bay.
Louisiana’s blue crab fishery is the largest blue crab fishery in the United States. It accounts for more than half of the total blue crab harvested in the Gulf, and Louisiana has led the United States in blue crab harvest for most years since 2000. ~ Louisiana.gov
During mating season, a female blue crab can release up to 2 million eggs! Crabs from Louisiana generate an annual economic impact of $293 million and more than 3,000 jobs. ~ louisianaseafood.com
And now you know more than you wanted to know about blue crabs. More than likely, you already know how yummy they are! We learned how to pick and enjoy blue crabs from Blaine’s step-grandmother in Baltimore. Every visit, she’d cover her table with thick layers of newspaper and we’d all get to work, pickin’ and a grinin’ as they say! 😊
Blaine expended a few extra calories watching the very exciting, down-to-the-minute football games (Rams/Buccaneers, Chiefs/Bills), while I lazily watched movies in the bedroom. It was easy for me to keep track of what was going on, just listening to Blaine. 😉
Tomorrow, we’re gonna go learn stuff again.