He who will not work.

Ron heard back from Jody, our insurance agent. Unfortunately, she can only get us insurance at $800 a year. Ouch.

So we'll be going with the guys the mortgage company recomended. They quoted us $600. I hope we don't regret it. I mean, really,we're just doing this so, God forbid, the mortgage company gets their money back if the house is "totalled" in a flood.

Ron and I were just discussing the Katrina evacuees in Houston. In the beginning, everyone couldn't do enough for them. Actually, I admire the strippers. Once they got settled, bought a few costumes, made a few calls, and went right to work in Houston. They were doing fine! I imagine a few Houston strippers wanted to hurt 'em, though. Obviously, getting naked for money is not God's will but I admire the tenacity.

I read somewhere that 23% of the residents of New Orleans lived below the poverty line. They had never had anything like what they got in Houston. $2,000 debit card, handouts all over. We would pick up Metrolift clients who'd say they were evacuees so they didn't have to pay for their rides (WRONG!). They'd be living in a beautiful 2 story brick home complaining about how the government wasn't helping them. You'd ask how they paid for the house. Oh, the goverment. Utilities? Same. The "goverment" was paying for everything from the clothes on their back to the electricity to heat the food that food stamps was buying them.

One guy told us about his cousin. His cousin was evacuated. His cousin got a debit card, an apartment, free utilities, and food stamps. Our driver (we were riding Metrolift at the time) was furious. He'd told his cousin, get a part-time job and save HALF your salary! If you get the lowest-paying minimum wage job, work part-time, and save half your salary, you'll have a four-figure nest egg by the time the benefits end.

Unfortunately, he, like a lot of others, didn't listen. When the year was up, I think most Houstonians had the attitude "OK, you've gotten a fresh start. You should be working by now and supporting yourself." But I would imagine that if you've lived below the poverty line and all of a sudden all your dreams come true, you're not in a hurry to say goodbye? [shrug]

I don't know. The longest I've ever gone without working was one month in December after I was laid off. I was severely depressed and Ron told me to take a month off. I did. Then I went on another job-hunt and applied for unemployment. I'd fill out the forms, (What did you do to seek employment this week?), and tack on an additional piece of paper to demonstrate ALL my job-hunt activities. By the time my third unemployment check was payable, I'd already gotten another job.

When Ron was hurt caregiving was a full-time job. Once I could leave him alone and he could get around somewhat we went back to work. These days, if something happened to Ron I'd apply for disability (I qualified at age 18 but declined, I want to support myself as much as possible). I'd work part-time.

I have high standards. So what if I'm disabled? It won't do me any good to sit around and leech off society, I'm going to contribute as much as I can. My husband - blind, partially deaf, can hardly walk, memory defecits due to his head injury... and works his butt off.

God's provided well for me, but I am certain that some of the lessons we learned from Katrina will shape decisions for decades. It all comes down to a line straight from the Bible. "He who will not work, let him also not eat."

2 Thessalonians 3:10 - For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.