Hurricane Tracks

Last month I got my first taste of what it feels like to live in an area where hurricanes can become big issues weather wise. If you have followed this column since January, you may have noticed that I have more than a passing interest in the weather. Not only am I a Skywarn spotter but I am also a storm phobic, an issue of which I am trying to raise awareness. Mostly I have a phobia of tornadoes and hurricanes, which meant that when tropical storm Debby started to do her thing in the Gulf recently, it was more than a little unnerving for me.

Thing is, I learned what most of you probably already know out here: Just because a storm is tracked one way on Monday it does not mean it will be tracked to the same location Tuesday, Wednesday, or any other day later in the week.

At one point a popular weather forum I visit had amateur and professional meteorologists alike discussing the possibilities of TS Debby becoming a hurricane, growing in strength in the warm Gulf waters and making landfall somewhere between Corpus Christi and, you guessed it, Port Lavaca, where this humble writer had his abode.

So for that one night I started to frantically read all I could on tropical storm tracking and was shocked by the lack of concern of my neighbors, who took every little update of information from me with a nod and a smile.

Of course, the next day some of the forecast models had changed and instead of bringing Debby west towards Texas, was shooting her East towards Florida. And forgive me Florida; I have to say I was rooting for Debby to go your way rather than mine.

According to statistics provided by the National Weather Service, in actuality only twenty-five percent of areas that receive hurricane warnings actually receive those kinds of severe weather conditions. However, it should also be noted that this fact is no reason to take a hurricane warning lightly; especially as a hurricane is much bigger weather event then the circle and cone shown in the various tracking models, as wind and rain can extend for hundreds of miles from the center of the cyclone.

Thing is, it is hard to track the storms and know what they will do far in advance, which makes waiting for the possible severe weather even more nerve wracking, especially if you live right on the water or have family and pets to consider in the event a major storm or hurricane does actually effect your area.

According to the NOAA, the problem with accurately forecasting a hurricane’s path and strength lies in the fact that it is hard to create a mathematical model that can forecast the environmental flow in the atmosphere that can steer a hurricane. The model must also take on the challenge of measuring the activity at the core of the storm, including water temperature, which determines the storms intensity.

These and other factors make the various models track in different directions and different strengths as they all might make a small change to a variable or two that might mean the difference between boarding up your windows and sitting on the beach with a cold drink in your hand.

I guess my neighbors had the right idea as they just went about daily business as Debby decided to just go north and bother someone else. Next time I’ll remember to bring my grains of salt when a storm is five days out and just wait it out to see what happens. At the very least, I won’t be driving my neighbors crazy with every National Hurricane Center advisory update. After all, I might need them to hold the nails for me while I board up my windows.

Bobby & Fon Boyd

Friday evening, July 6, local couple, Bobby and Fon Boyd, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Friends and family gathered at their home in Port Lavaca. Daughters Beckey Boyd Gooden and husband Ronnie, of Seadrift and Tammy Boyd hosted the event.

Special guests were Waymon Boyd, Norman and Linda Boyd and family, and Wanda Garbe. Four generations of family and close friends helped the couple celebrate!

The couple also celebrated with an 8-day trip to New York City in May.

There will be an open meeting sponsored by the Calhoun County Republican Party at First National Bank Meeting Room in Port Lavaca on Monday, July 23, at 6:30 p.m. All interested parties are invited to attend.

“Humility” is an extremely rare quality within the realm of humanity. Sadly, pride, which is the opposite of humility, comes naturally to most people. Pride is the only disease that tends to sicken everyone except the person afflicted by it. The Bible says, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Gal. 6:3—KJV). Humility seems to elude mankind at every turn, but haughtiness and pride finds fertile soil in which to flourish within man’s heart and soul.

Speaking of the quality of humility, Dr. Kenneth Boa says, “Humility is such an illusive virtue, isn’t it? As soon as you think you’ve got it, you don’t. That’s part of the problem: When I finally achieve humility, I get proud of myself.” 1

Pastor Greg Baker makes this valid observation: “Humility is often an unrecognizable quality in one’s self. You cannot achieve humility by trying to be humble, simply because the effort to be humble requires you to be anything but humble.” 2 As you see, humility and pride cannot peacefully coexist.

Do you know what I find amazing about this matter of humility and pride? Humility is a trait produced by God via trials, troubles, and the difficulties of life. With great difficulty, humility breaks through the hard soil of man’s heart. On the other hand, pride is like a crop of dandelions; it’ll grow almost anywhere, with no special attention. Amazingly, the very things about which the Christian should be humble are the things that often produce pride.

The Bible teaches that every believer has been saved by grace, through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary (Ephesians 2:8-9; Col. 1:20). Salvation is the result of what God has done for man, not what man has done for God. That’s the reason Paul said that the believing sinner is saved by “grace” (unmerited favor), “not by works of righteousness which we have done…” (Titus 3:5). God doesn’t save “good people.” He only saves “sinners.” Yet, the Christian often takes the credit for that righteousness and change in one’s life that is the result of the work of God alone within the yielded heart of the believer. What’s even worse is that we Christians can sometimes look at those who don’t know Christ and conclude that they’re probably too wicked to turn to God in repentance—they’re somehow beyond God’s ability to make anew in Christ. Rather than being critical of those we perceive as vile sinners, we should do as Paul the Apostle commanded the Corinthians: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves…” (2 Cor. 13:5a). In short, before you declare some sinner to be too far from God to be forgiven of their sin, make sure your own life shows evidence of redemption and faith in Christ. It could very well be that we will all one day be shocked by who is, and who is not present in Heaven, as the following poem facetiously points out:

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven’s door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its décor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp;
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in Hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, “What’s the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How’d all these sinners get up here?
God must’ve made a mistake.

And why’s everyone so quiet,
So somber—give me a clue.”
“Hush, child,” He said, “they’re all in shock
At the thought of seeing you.”

One thing is certain: No one will be in Heaven because of their personal merits, for “…there is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). The repentant sinner will be in Heaven because he has received God’s gift of salvation, having placed his faith in Christ, who alone paid his sin-debt on the cross of Calvary.

1 Dr. Kenneth Boa, “Humility,” found at bible.org. Dr. Boa is President of Reflections Ministries and Trinity House Publishing.
2 Pastor Greg Baker, “The Essence of Humility,” an article found at christianbaptist.com.

The Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre performed the children’s classic “The Velveteen Rabbit” in June of this year. The play also happened to be the 14th Anniversary Production for the Port Lavaca Children’s Theatre.

Following the journey of a toy rabbit as it touches a young boy’s life, the play was adapted from the 1922 novel of the same name by Margery Williams, and the Main Street performers were excellent in conveying the drama and message in the story.

All members of the young cast played their parts well, with special mention going to the performers who really had to carry the show such as the Velveteen Rabbit herself, portrayed by Bailey Leadbetter and Faith Fojt. The Skin Horse (Brice Caughron/John-Michael Sadlier) was another player with a large and important part to play as the actor not only had to carry his characters dialogue but also carried the play along with some very heartfelt narration.

Jax Stringham had some wonderful moments as well as Andrew, the boy whose toys came to life.

Taylor Hunt also did an excellent job in the role of Nana as she filled in for an actress who fell ill shortly before performances began.

Jody Weaver did her usual splendid job of wearing many hats for the production including director, scenery artist and publicity. Weaver, along with the rest of the collective members of the Main Street Theatre, always seems to make everything work wonderfully in the end no matter the production or event, and “The Velveteen Rabbit” was no exception.

Another pleasant surprise was the importance given to Andrew’s contraction of Scarlet Fever, a disease which at the time was a very serious issue among children. The mix of the real world sickness and themes of love, friendship and loss are timeless both in meaning and importance. Perhaps they are even more important to us modernly as our children, although not affected by an epidemic such as Scarlet fever, are increasingly in danger of losing their imaginary friends in this age of online games and I-Phones.

All in all, “The Velveteen Rabbit” was a great take on an old children’s classic and although this particular production has ended, it is well worth the effort to check out the Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre for future productions as they always do an excellent job of producing some excellent performances.

Check it out: www.plmainstreet.org