Hurricane Ike hit yesterday leaving a path of devastation for our coastal area. Once again, I ask myself why we choose to live on the Gulf Coast, only to reiterate that this is where God has us for now. Period. And so the blog goes...
Being submissive is sometimes a challenge for me, but I yearn to trust Paul in his decisions to lead our family in all areas of life. Thus, two weeks ago we made a 19 hour trip to Michigan to evacuate Hurricane Gustav (that is fun to say), only to have Paul return back to work immediately. After "vacationing", the kids and I returned home last Sunday...worn and weary only to have to regroup and prepare for another evacuation. This time, however, Paul did not feel the need to leave and I just prayed that God would speak to him in ways that he could understand on what direction our family should take with this storm. Being from the Mid West, I was caught in a couple of tornadoes as a kid that have traumatized me to this day. Seriously, a July thunderstorm has me running around our Texas home screaming, "where is the basement!?!" So it is totally understandable for me to see a hurricane 650 miles away and want to evacuate,... yesterday! Well, I realized this "submissive" thing kind of stinks from time to time and I bit the bullet and stayed to ride the storm out here. I've come to realize in the last few days that not only do Texans use the words "hunker down," but now I UNDERSTAND what that means.
We put the kids to bed in our room because we were "having a special slumber party in mommy's room" around 9:00 p.m. Nothing short of answered prayers, all 3 kids slept undisturbed until 6 a.m. PRAISE GOD! I did not want them to hear the storm coming through, or feel the energy that Ike brought with him. I know that sounds new-agey, but anyone who has ever "hunkered down" through a hurricane knows what that means. I was so afraid that little Keaton would wake in the middle of it. Unfortunately, she is like her mama and the sight of rain makes this child tremble. I was even more afraid that she would wake and see me in a corner, rocking in the fetal position, and hitting my head against the wall, all the while screaming, "find a happy place, Find a Happy Place, FIND A HAPPY PLACE!!!" (yes, another answered prayer.)
But on a serious note, God really showed Himself faithful to us that night...so many little blessings in the midst of all of the chaos. I was terrified once the wind started to hit, and I chewed every nail off and then some, but God had me so exhausted from the previous weeks of evacuating and traveling so much, that I had no other choice but to give in and fall asleep. Paul and I seemed to take turns sleeping when we could, but then the really bad part hit and sleeping was over. Although it wasn't as bad as what I was expecting, it was bad enough, and let's just say Paul and I have "agreed" that we will never hunker down again!
Yes, Mother Nature is nothing to mess with...she isn't invited to anymore special slumber parties at my house! A house that wasn't damaged in the least little bit...bless God! He IS GOOD!
1 comment:
Awesome! I tried calling all morning yesterday (when I was available) to see what the damage was and only got the operator's chime. Good to know that you are all safe and sound. Poor Erin is up to her eyebrows is someone else's corn poop. It was coming out of their bathtub and toilet as the city sewer was taking up residence in their basement. They ripped out all the carpet (a problem to fix after the mass cleansing) and they have been working their tails off since Friday night??? The only thing I am able to do right now is her laundry and get her some dinner. Not what I had in mind, but the kids don't have school today because of the roads being flooded and so not too many people want to watch 5 kids just for fun.
I am getting ready to go to the store to get ingredients for dinner and some cookies, so I gotta get. Congrats on the hunkering.
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