<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US" xmlns:fb="https://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml" xmlns:addthis="https://www.addthis.com/help/api-spec"  prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#">
<head >
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />

<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v6.2 - https://yoa.st/1yg?utm_content=6.2 -->
<title>Hurricane Harvey, Houses, and Heaven: The Work Of Our Hands</title>
<meta name="description" content="You&#039;ve built, maintained, and remodeled your house for years. Then a hurricane like Hurricane Harvey wipes it away. Does God understand? Oh yes He does!"/>
<link rel="canonical" href="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/" />
<meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Hurricane Harvey, Houses, and Heaven: The Work Of Our Hands" />
<meta property="og:description" content="You&#039;ve built, maintained, and remodeled your house for years. Then a hurricane like Hurricane Harvey wipes it away. Does God understand? Oh yes He does!" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Grace on Parade" />
<meta property="article:publisher" content="https://www.facebook.com/graceonparade" />
<meta property="article:section" content="Grace on Parade" />
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2017-08-30T13:40:06+00:00" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hurricane-flooding-300x125.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hurricane-flooding-300x125.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Boldt-Castle.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Boldt-Castle.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Reynolda-House.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Reynolda-House.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/karens-office-2-300x225.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/karens-office-2-300x225.jpg" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="You&#039;ve built, maintained, and remodeled your house for years. Then a hurricane like Hurricane Harvey wipes it away. Does God understand? Oh yes He does!" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Hurricane Harvey, Houses, and Heaven: The Work Of Our Hands" />
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@kwingate715" />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hurricane-flooding-300x125.jpg" />
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@kwingate715" />
<script type='application/ld+json'>{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"WebSite","@id":"#website","url":"https:\/\/karenwingate.com\/","name":"Karen Wingate | Grace on Parade","potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https:\/\/karenwingate.com\/?s={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}</script>
<script type='application/ld+json'>{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Person","url":"https:\/\/karenwingate.com\/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/graceonparade","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pub\/karen-wingate\/9\/986\/306","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/karenawingate\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/kwingate715"],"@id":"#person","name":"Karen Wingate"}</script>
<!-- / Yoast SEO plugin. -->

<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//fonts.googleapis.com' />
<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org' />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Grace on Parade &raquo; Feed" href="https://karenwingate.com/feed/" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Grace on Parade &raquo; Comments Feed" href="https://karenwingate.com/comments/feed/" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Grace on Parade &raquo; Hurricane Harvey, Houses, and Heaven: The Work Of Our Hands Comments Feed" href="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/feed/" />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='header-fvm-fonts-css'  href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Dosis:400,600|Crimson+Text:400,400italic,700' type='text/css' media='all' />
<link rel='stylesheet' id='fvm-header-0-css'  href='//karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/fvm/out/header-52bc4091-0.min.css' type='text/css' media='all' />
<!--[if lt IE 9]>
<script type='text/javascript' src='https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/themes/genesis/lib/js/html5shiv.js'></script>
<![endif]--><script type='text/javascript'>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var cl_settings = {"name":"author","url":"url","comment":"comment","email":"email","infopanel":"on","default_on":"on","default_on_admin":"on","cl_version":"2.94.7","images":"https:\/\/karenwingate.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/commentluv\/images\/","api_url":"http:\/\/karenwingate.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","_fetch":"353616155c","_info":"eae442315f","infoback":"white","infotext":"black","template_insert":"","logged_in":"","refer":"https:\/\/karenwingate.com\/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven\/","no_url_message":"Please enter a URL and then click the CommentLuv checkbox if you want to add your last blog post","no_http_message":"Please use http:\/\/ in front of your url","no_url_logged_in_message":"You need to visit your profile in the dashboard and update your details with your site URL","no_info_message":"No info was available or an error occured"};
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type='text/javascript' src='//karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/fvm/out/header-02821cad-0.min.js'></script><link rel='https://api.w.org/' href='https://karenwingate.com/wp-json/' />
<link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://karenwingate.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd" />
<link rel="wlwmanifest" type="application/wlwmanifest+xml" href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-includes/wlwmanifest.xml" /> 

<link rel='shortlink' href='https://karenwingate.com/?p=3643' />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/json+oembed" href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkarenwingate.com%2Fhurricane-harvey-houses-heaven%2F" />
<link rel="alternate" type="text/xml+oembed" href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fkarenwingate.com%2Fhurricane-harvey-houses-heaven%2F&#038;format=xml" />
<style type="text/css"> .enews .screenread {
	height: 1px;
    left: -1000em;
    overflow: hidden;
    position: absolute;
    top: -1000em;
    width: 1px; } </style><link rel="icon" href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/themes/cafe-pro/images/favicon.ico" />
<link rel="pingback" href="https://karenwingate.com/xmlrpc.php" />
<script type="text/javascript">

  var _gaq = _gaq || [];
  _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-34327935-1']);
  _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

  (function() {
    var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
    ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
    var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
  })();

</script><style type="text/css">.site-title a { background: url(https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cropped-karenwingate-logox350.png) no-repeat !important; }</style>
<style type="text/css" media="screen"> .simple-social-icons ul li a, .simple-social-icons ul li a:hover, .simple-social-icons ul li a:focus { background-color: #a0ac48 !important; border-radius: 0px; color: #ffffff !important; border: 0px #ffffff solid !important; font-size: 21px; padding: 11px; }  .simple-social-icons ul li a:hover, .simple-social-icons ul li a:focus { background-color: #000000 !important; border-color: #ffffff !important; color: #ffffff !important; }  .simple-social-icons ul li a:focus { outline: 1px dotted #000000 !important; }</style></head>
<body class="post-template-default single single-post postid-3643 single-format-standard custom-header header-image header-full-width content-sidebar" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/WebPage"><div class="site-container"><header class="site-header" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/WPHeader"><div class="wrap"><div class="title-area"><p class="site-title" itemprop="headline"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/">Grace on Parade</a></p><p class="site-description" itemprop="description">Spreading the fragrance of God&#039;s grace everywhere</p></div></div></header><nav class="nav-primary" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/SiteNavigationElement"><div class="wrap"><ul id="menu-mainnav" class="menu genesis-nav-menu menu-primary"><li class="small-site-title"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/">Grace on Parade</a></li><li id="menu-item-21" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-home menu-item-21"><a href="http://karenwingate.com/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Home</span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-22" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-22"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/about/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">About</span></a>
<ul class="sub-menu">
	<li id="menu-item-3714" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-3714"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/publications/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Books by Karen Wingate</span></a></li>
	<li id="menu-item-3713" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-3713"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/speaking/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Speaking</span></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li id="menu-item-3703" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-3703"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/what-i-saw-today/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">What I Saw Today</span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-23" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page current_page_parent menu-item-23"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/blog/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Grace on Parade</span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-2118" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-2118"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/bible-study/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Bible Study</span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-2120" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-2120"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/recipes/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Recipes</span></a></li>
<li id="menu-item-24" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-24"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/contact/" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Contact</span></a></li>
</ul></div></nav><div class="site-inner"><div class="content-sidebar-wrap"><main class="content"><div class="breadcrumb" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/BreadcrumbList">You are here: <span class="breadcrumb-link-wrap" itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ListItem"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/" itemprop="item"><span itemprop="name">Home</span></a></span> <span aria-label="breadcrumb separator">/</span> <span class="breadcrumb-link-wrap" itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ListItem"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/grace-on-parade/" itemprop="item"><span itemprop="name">Grace on Parade</span></a></span> <span aria-label="breadcrumb separator">/</span> Hurricane Harvey, Houses, and Heaven: The Work Of Our Hands</div><article class="post-3643 post type-post status-publish format-standard category-grace-on-parade entry" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/CreativeWork"><header class="entry-header"><p class="entry-meta"><time class="entry-time" itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2017-08-30T13:40:06+00:00">August 30, 2017</time> by <span class="entry-author" itemprop="author" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/author/karen-wingate/" class="entry-author-link" itemprop="url" rel="author"><span class="entry-author-name" itemprop="name">Karen Wingate</span></a></span> <span class="entry-comments-link"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/#respond">Leave a Comment</a></span> </p><h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline">Hurricane Harvey, Houses, and Heaven: The Work Of Our Hands</h1>
</header><div class="entry-content" itemprop="text"><div class="at-above-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/"></div><figure id="attachment_3644" style="max-width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hurricane-flooding.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3644" src="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hurricane-flooding-300x125.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="125" srcset="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hurricane-flooding-300x125.jpg 300w, https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Hurricane-flooding.jpg 347w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Hurricane flooding in Beaumont Texas</figcaption></figure>
<p>This past week, cable television, weather apps, and social media outlets have provided countless images of the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas. I’ve seen photos of children rescued from second story windows, a large handicapped man loaded from a boat to a van by a team of four able-bodied men, and people wading through hip deep water, carrying precious possession in a single plastic tote. Friends tell of not being able to use their toilets because of an overloaded sewerage system, destroyed kitchen counters from roof leaks, the smell of rotting food from a refrigerator disconnected from life-giving electricity, and the prospect of cleaning mold from days of high humidity.</p>
<p>Then there are those are those who have lost it all—all that they have worked for years to accumulate—wiped out in one massive storm.</p>
<figure id="attachment_3645" style="max-width: 170px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Boldt-Castle.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3645" src="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Boldt-Castle.jpg" alt="" width="170" height="227" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Boldt Castle</figcaption></figure>
<h2><span style="color: #003366;"><strong>It makes me think of the story I heard about George Boldt.</strong></span></h2>
<p>George Charles Boldt, proprietor of the famed Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City, and hotel magnate, amassed a fortune of millions by providing the best accommodations money could buy for the rich and famous of the late 19th century. He decided to build a castle on Heart Island in the 1,000 Island region of upstate New York as a present for his wife. He spared no expense in this six-story, 120-room castle-like structure.</p>
<p><span style="color: #003366;"><em>See more about the Boldt Castle <a href="http://www.boldtcastle.com/visitorinfo/">here</a>. </em></span></p>
<p>Boldt’s wife, Louise, died suddenly and, out of his extreme grief, Boldt abandoned the project. For 73 years, the castle fell into ruin until the Thousand Island Bridge Authority acquired the property and spent $15 million dollars to renovate and create a tourist attraction commemorating the wealth of America’s Golden Era.</p>
<h2><strong><span style="color: #003366;">Then there was R.J. Reynolds</span></strong></h2>
<figure id="attachment_3646" style="max-width: 275px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Reynolda-House.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3646" src="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Reynolda-House.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="183" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Renolda House</figcaption></figure>
<h2></h2>
<p>Bodlt’s tragic story reminds me of R.J. Reynolds, the tobacco tycoon of the early 20th century. Fifteen years after Boldt’s abandoned project, Reynolds finished his dream house in 1918. For years, he had lived above the factory floor of his tobacco plant. After he married a woman thirty years younger than himself, he lived in a residence in the Reynolds village while he built his dream house.</p>
<p>He died of pancreatic cancer six months after completing the house.</p>
<p><em><span style="color: #003366;">Read more about the Reynalda House <a href="http://www.reynoldahouse.org/">here</a>. </span></em></p>
<h2><strong><span style="color: #003366;">You might think I am going to expound upon the evils of materialism and holding too tightly to earthly treasures. </span></strong></h2>
<p>Right now would be a good time to quote the verse from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount about the decay of wealth, right?</p>
<figure id="attachment_3647" style="max-width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/karens-office-2.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3647" src="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/karens-office-2-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/karens-office-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/karens-office-2.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">My lovely little office</figcaption></figure>
<p>Actually, I have compassion for R.J., George, and my friends in Houston, Rockport, and Beaumont, Texas. I know a little of how they feel. I haven’t suffered the extent of loss, but I know the feelings. Except for a short time in North Carolina, we’ve lived in parsonages throughout our married life. I’ve been timid about redecorating. I told myself I wasn’t good at it, I couldn’t convince my husband to spend the time or money to do it, the one time we had to paint a room, there was no end to the disagreements about color, and—the 600 pound gorilla in the mix—it wasn’t my house. Would a church board ever go for any other color than off-white in a parsonage?</p>
<p>After living in a house for eight years and after my two daughters had moved to college, I decided to turn a bedroom into an office and make it my own. I painted the room a pretty coral color, lined the walls with my favorite art, and added sea-foam green curtains and rugs. It was beautiful.</p>
<h2><strong><span style="color: #003366;">Less than two months later, my husband’s ministry ended.</span></strong></h2>
<p>I had to leave my beautiful office behind. I cried for days. That office represented so many other things I had to leave—a cherished dining room table that wouldn’t fit into our smaller parsonage, friends, favorite hiking trails, stores, and restaurants. I could tell myself all day long to not hold so tightly to the things of this world, but it helped only a little. The swirl of events out of my control wiped away all I held dear in that location with the force and mercilessness of a hurricane, leaving little but the longing and a tenacious faith that God had His reasons.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until I found a promise buried in the back of Isaiah that I realized the make-up of my desires. My feelings weren&#8217;t an obsession with possessions. They represented a longing for permanence, a need for completion. Even Solomon admitted in his book of Ecclesiastes that man is intrinsically wired to enjoy and find satisfaction in the work of his hands. Perhaps that&#8217;s why God gave the promise of rest modeled in the first chapter of Genesis and reaffirmed throughout the book of Hebrews.</p>
<p>My promise from Isaiah? Here it is:</p>
<blockquote>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em>They will build houses and dwell in them;</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em> they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em>22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em> or plant and others eat.</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em>For as the days of a tree,</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em> so will be the days of my people;</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em>my chosen ones will long enjoy</em></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #003366;"><em> the work of their hands. – Isaiah 65:21,22</em></span></strong></h3>
</blockquote>
<p>The context talks about the new heaven and new earth. God understands what life is like in this temporary world. Life is too short to complete projects. Events happen, cutting short the time we thought we had to enjoy what we have so long worked for. Other people, catastrophes, circumstances, the big picture stuff bulldozes our dreams, heartlessly turning them into a pile of ruined rubble.</p>
<h2><span style="color: #003366;"><strong>It’s not the stuff.</strong> </span></h2>
<p>It’s the work, and the time invested. It&#8217;s being deprived of relaxing on the front porch with a glass of iced tea, to rest and savor the completion.</p>
<p>Houston will rebuild after Hurricane Harvey makes its exit. But the sense of loss will always remain.</p>
<p>Heaven will be different. We’ll have all eternity to enjoy the satisfaction of effort. I don’t know whether houses and vineyards mentioned in Isiah are literal or figurative, or whether we’ll be in the construction or farming business. I suspect the verses have as much if not more to do with the spiritual world. Regardless, we will see the results of our labors for the Lord. For all eternity, we’ll enjoy the fruits of our evangelistic and discpling efforts. We’ll see people who came to the Lord through our influence, and we’ll stand beside those we’ve trained to follow Jesus, praising the Savior together.</p>
<p>Someday I will experience that sweet satisfaction of the work I’ve done with the Lord’s help.</p>
<p>I might even find me a coral colored wall.</p>
<p><span style="color: #003366;"><strong><em>During the month of September, starting September 1st, I’m delighted to welcome several guest bloggers to the Grace on Parade family. I hope you find encouragement and inspiration in their posts as I have. Please honor them by clicking on the Facebook and Twitter icons and by visiting their blog sites.</em> </strong></span></p>
<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings above via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings below via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons above via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons below via filter on the_content --><div class="at-below-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/"></div><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><div class='yarpp-related yarpp-related-none'>
<h3>Related posts:</h3>
<p>No related posts.</p>
</div>
<!--<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
			xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
			xmlns:trackback="http://madskills.com/public/xml/rss/module/trackback/">
		<rdf:Description rdf:about="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/"
    dc:identifier="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/"
    dc:title="Hurricane Harvey, Houses, and Heaven: The Work Of Our Hands"
    trackback:ping="https://karenwingate.com/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/trackback/" />
</rdf:RDF>-->
</div><footer class="entry-footer"><p class="entry-meta"><span class="entry-categories">Filed Under: <a href="https://karenwingate.com/grace-on-parade/" rel="category tag">Grace on Parade</a></span> </p></footer></article><div class="after-entry widget-area"><section id="enews-ext-3" class="widget enews-widget"><div class="widget-wrap"><div class="enews"><h4 class="widget-title widgettitle">Subscribe</h4>
			<form id="subscribeenews-ext-3" action="//graceonparade.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=20bbd064c0d27a952e9d8b7b4&amp;id=b25bb6a157" method="post"  target="_blank" onsubmit="if ( subbox1.value == 'First Name...') { subbox1.value = ''; } if ( subbox2.value == 'Last Name...') { subbox2.value = ''; }" name="enews-ext-3">
												<label for="subbox" class="screenread">Enter your email address...</label><input type="email" value="" id="subbox" placeholder="Enter your email address..." name="EMAIL" required="required" />
								<input type="submit" value="Go" id="subbutton" />
			</form>
		</div></div></section>
</div>	<div id="respond" class="comment-respond">
		<h3 id="reply-title" class="comment-reply-title">Leave a Reply <small><a rel="nofollow" id="cancel-comment-reply-link" href="/hurricane-harvey-houses-heaven/#respond" style="display:none;">Cancel reply</a></small></h3>			<form action="https://karenwingate.com/wp-comments-post.php" method="post" id="commentform" class="comment-form" novalidate>
				<p class="comment-notes"><span id="email-notes">Your email address will not be published.</span> Required fields are marked <span class="required">*</span></p><p class="comment-form-comment"><label for="comment">Comment</label> <textarea autocomplete="nope"  id="dc1281a567"  name="02a061ad1e"   cols="45" rows="8" maxlength="65525" aria-required="true" required="required"></textarea><textarea id="comment" aria-hidden="true" name="comment" autocomplete="nope" style="clip:rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);position:absolute !important;white-space:nowrap;height:1px;width:1px;overflow:hidden;" tabindex="-1"></textarea><script type="text/javascript">document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "281c949c4723bc31aa6cdb16a6c99183" );document.getElementById("dc1281a567").setAttribute( "id", "comment" );</script></p><p class="comment-form-author"><label for="author">Name <span class="required">*</span></label> <input id="author" name="author" type="text" value="" size="30" maxlength="245" aria-required='true' required='required' /></p>
<p class="comment-form-email"><label for="email">Email <span class="required">*</span></label> <input id="email" name="email" type="email" value="" size="30" maxlength="100" aria-describedby="email-notes" aria-required='true' required='required' /></p>
<p class="comment-form-url"><label for="url">Website</label> <input id="url" name="url" type="url" value="" size="30" maxlength="200" /></p>
<p class="form-submit"><input name="submit" type="submit" id="submit" class="submit" value="Post Comment" /> <input type='hidden' name='comment_post_ID' value='3643' id='comment_post_ID' />
<input type='hidden' name='comment_parent' id='comment_parent' value='0' />
</p><input type="hidden" name="cl_post_title" id="cl_post_title"/><input type="hidden" name="cl_post_url" id="cl_post_url"/><input type="hidden" name="cl_prem" id="cl_prem"/><div id="commentluv"><div id="cl_messages"></div><input type="checkbox" id="doluv" name="doluv" checked="checked" /><span id="mylastpost"><img alt="CommentLuv badge" src="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/CL91_default.png"/></span><span id="showmorespan"><img class="clarrow" id="showmore" src="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/commentluv/images/down-arrow.gif" alt="Show more posts" title="Show more posts" style="display:none;"/></span></div><div id="lastposts" style="display:none;"></div>			</form>
			</div><!-- #respond -->
	</main><aside class="sidebar sidebar-primary widget-area" role="complementary" aria-label="Primary Sidebar" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/WPSideBar"><section id="simple-social-icons-2" class="widget simple-social-icons"><div class="widget-wrap"><h4 class="widget-title widgettitle">Follow Me on Social Media</h4>
<ul class="aligncenter"><li class="ssi-facebook"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/graceonparade" ><svg role="img" class="social-facebook" aria-labelledby="social-facebook"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-facebook"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-gplus"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101988430774172748391/posts?hl=en-US" ><svg role="img" class="social-gplus" aria-labelledby="social-gplus"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-gplus"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-linkedin"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/karen-wingate/9/986/306" ><svg role="img" class="social-linkedin" aria-labelledby="social-linkedin"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-linkedin"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-pinterest"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/karenawingate/" ><svg role="img" class="social-pinterest" aria-labelledby="social-pinterest"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-pinterest"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/kwingate715" ><svg role="img" class="social-twitter" aria-labelledby="social-twitter"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-twitter"></use></svg></a></li></ul></div></section>
<section id="enews-ext-2" class="widget enews-widget"><div class="widget-wrap"><div class="enews"><h4 class="widget-title widgettitle">Subscribe</h4>
			<form id="subscribeenews-ext-2" action="//graceonparade.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=20bbd064c0d27a952e9d8b7b4&amp;id=b25bb6a157" method="post"  target="_blank" onsubmit="if ( subbox1.value == 'First Name...') { subbox1.value = ''; } if ( subbox2.value == 'Last Name...') { subbox2.value = ''; }" name="enews-ext-2">
												<label for="subbox" class="screenread">Enter your email address...</label><input type="email" value="" id="subbox" placeholder="Enter your email address..." name="EMAIL" required="required" />
								<input type="submit" value="Go" id="subbutton" />
			</form>
		</div></div></section>
<section id="user-profile-2" class="widget user-profile"><div class="widget-wrap"><h4 class="widget-title widgettitle">Meet Karen Wingate</h4>
<p><span class="alignleft"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/84001ac1570a9b20e5241207fe2b316f?s=85&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/84001ac1570a9b20e5241207fe2b316f?s=170&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-85 photo' height='85' width='85' /></span>Invite Karen Wingate to share with your church group at your next Women’s Ministry event the incredible story of how God gave her better vision than ever before. Contact her at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dfb4beadbab19fb8adbebcbab0b1afbeadbebbbaf1bcb0b2">[email&#160;protected]</a> <a class="pagelink" href="https://karenwingate.com/about/">[Continue  …]</a></p>
</div></section>
		<section id="recent-posts-3" class="widget widget_recent_entries"><div class="widget-wrap">		<h4 class="widget-title widgettitle">Recent Posts</h4>
		<ul>
											<li>
					<a href="https://karenwingate.com/bible-study-can-study-bible/">Bible Study: You Can Study the Bible For Yourself.</a>
									</li>
											<li>
					<a href="https://karenwingate.com/spiritual-practices-bible-study-fasting/">Spiritual Practices Bible Study: Fasting</a>
									</li>
											<li>
					<a href="https://karenwingate.com/bill-gaither-sharing-platform/">Bill Gaither: Sharing The Platform</a>
									</li>
					</ul>
		</div></section>
<section id="custom_html-3" class="widget_text widget widget_custom_html"><div class="widget_text widget-wrap"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"><div class="button med"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/speaking/">Ask Karen to Speak</a></div></div></div></section>
<section id="custom_html-2" class="widget_text widget widget_custom_html"><div class="widget_text widget-wrap"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"><div align="center">
<a href="https://karlaakins.com/?p=4689″ rel=”nofollow” title=”Blog of the Year">
<img src="https://karlaakins.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2016-Brilliant-Blog-jpeg2.jpg" alt="Vote for 2016 Brilliant Blog">
</a>
</div></div></div></section>
<section id="custom_html-7" class="widget_text widget widget_custom_html"><div class="widget_text widget-wrap"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"><center><img src="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/life-changing-miracles-ecoverx30.png"><br>
<strong>Get Your Copy Today</strong><br>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Miracles-Real-Life-Unforgettable-Encounters-ebook/dp/B01N3ASFPD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1505936186&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=life+changing+miracles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a><br>
<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/life-changing-miracles-james-stuart-bell/1124824723?ean=9780764219436#/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barnes and Noble</a><br>
<a href="https://www.christianbook.com/changing-miracles-stories-unforgettable-encounters-with/james-bell/9780764219436/pd/219436?product_redirect=1&amp;Ntt=219436&amp;item_code=&amp;Ntk=keywords&amp;event=ESRCP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christianbook</a></center></div></div></section>
</aside></div></div><div class="footer-widgets"><div class="wrap"><div class="widget-area footer-widgets-1 footer-widget-area"><section id="simple-social-icons-3" class="widget simple-social-icons"><div class="widget-wrap"><h4 class="widget-title widgettitle">Follow Me on Social Media</h4>
<ul class="aligncenter"><li class="ssi-facebook"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/graceonparade" ><svg role="img" class="social-facebook" aria-labelledby="social-facebook"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-facebook"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-gplus"><a href="https://plus.google.com/101988430774172748391/posts?hl=en-US" ><svg role="img" class="social-gplus" aria-labelledby="social-gplus"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-gplus"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-linkedin"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/karen-wingate/9/986/306" ><svg role="img" class="social-linkedin" aria-labelledby="social-linkedin"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-linkedin"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-pinterest"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/karenawingate/" ><svg role="img" class="social-pinterest" aria-labelledby="social-pinterest"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-pinterest"></use></svg></a></li><li class="ssi-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/kwingate715" ><svg role="img" class="social-twitter" aria-labelledby="social-twitter"><use xlink:href="https://karenwingate.com/wp-content/plugins/simple-social-icons/symbol-defs.svg#social-twitter"></use></svg></a></li></ul></div></section>
</div><div class="widget-area footer-widgets-2 footer-widget-area"><section id="enews-ext-5" class="widget enews-widget"><div class="widget-wrap"><div class="enews"><h4 class="widget-title widgettitle">Subscribe</h4>
			<form id="subscribeenews-ext-5" action="//graceonparade.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=20bbd064c0d27a952e9d8b7b4&amp;id=b25bb6a157" method="post"  target="_blank" onsubmit="if ( subbox1.value == 'First Name') { subbox1.value = ''; } if ( subbox2.value == 'Last Name') { subbox2.value = ''; }" name="enews-ext-5">
												<label for="subbox" class="screenread">E-Mail Address</label><input type="email" value="" id="subbox" placeholder="E-Mail Address" name="EMAIL" required="required" />
								<input type="submit" value="Go" id="subbutton" />
			</form>
		</div></div></section>
</div><div class="widget-area footer-widgets-3 footer-widget-area"><section id="custom_html-6" class="widget_text widget widget_custom_html"><div class="widget_text widget-wrap"><div class="textwidget custom-html-widget"><p>"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."<br>
- 2 Corinthians 2:14</p></div></div></section>
</div></div></div><footer class="site-footer" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/WPFooter"><div class="wrap"><nav class="nav-footer"><ul id="menu-mainnav-1" class="genesis-nav-menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-home menu-item-21"><a href="http://karenwingate.com/" itemprop="url">Home</a></li>
<li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-22"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/about/" itemprop="url">About</a></li>
<li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-3703"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/what-i-saw-today/" itemprop="url">What I Saw Today</a></li>
<li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page current_page_parent menu-item-23"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/blog/" itemprop="url">Grace on Parade</a></li>
<li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-2118"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/bible-study/" itemprop="url">Bible Study</a></li>
<li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-2120"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/recipes/" itemprop="url">Recipes</a></li>
<li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-24"><a href="https://karenwingate.com/contact/" itemprop="url">Contact</a></li>
</ul></nav><div class="creds"><p>Copyright &copy; 2018 &middot; <a href="http://www.karenwingate.com">Karen Wingate | Grace on Parade</a> <br>Designed and Hosted by <a href="http://www.coastalwaterscreative.com" title="Local Business Websites and Digital Marketing">Coastal Waters Creative - Local Business Websites and Digital Marketing</a></p></div><p></p></div></footer></div><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/d07b1474/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script><script data-cfasync="false" type="text/javascript">if (window.addthis_product === undefined) { window.addthis_product = "wpp"; } if (window.wp_product_version === undefined) { window.wp_product_version = "wpp-6.1.2"; } if (window.wp_blog_version === undefined) { window.wp_blog_version = "4.9.4"; } if (window.addthis_share === undefined) { window.addthis_share = {"passthrough":{"twitter":{"via":"kwingate715"}},"url_transforms":{"shorten":{"twitter":"bitly"}},"shorteners":{"bitly":{}}}; } if (window.addthis_config === undefined) { window.addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true,"data_ga_property":"UA-34327935-1","data_ga_social":true,"ui_atversion":"300","data_track_addressbar":true,"ui_508_compliant":true}; } if (window.addthis_plugin_info === undefined) { window.addthis_plugin_info = {"info_status":"enabled","cms_name":"WordPress","plugin_name":"Share Buttons by AddThis","plugin_version":"6.1.2","plugin_mode":"AddThis","anonymous_profile_id":"wp-218711ba8ba7a7717e32f90645d76acd","page_info":{"template":"posts","post_type":""},"sharing_enabled_on_post_via_metabox":false}; } 
                    (function() {
                      var first_load_interval_id = setInterval(function () {
                        if (typeof window.addthis !== 'undefined') {
                          window.clearInterval(first_load_interval_id);
                          if (typeof window.addthis_layers !== 'undefined' && Object.getOwnPropertyNames(window.addthis_layers).length > 0) {
                            window.addthis.layers(window.addthis_layers);
                          }
                          if (Array.isArray(window.addthis_layers_tools)) {
                            for (i = 0; i < window.addthis_layers_tools.length; i++) {
                              window.addthis.layers(window.addthis_layers_tools[i]);
                            }
                          }
                        }
                     },1000)
                    }());
                </script> <script data-cfasync="false" type="text/javascript"src="https://s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-51c9c57f28ae046f"></script><link rel='stylesheet' id='fvm-footer-0-css'  href='//karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/fvm/out/footer-84da0eba-0.min.css' type='text/css' media='all' />
<script type='text/javascript' src='//karenwingate.com/wp-content/uploads/fvm/out/footer-4ea4102a-0.min.js'></script></body></html>
