I have a lot of very good friends who live in Florida, as that was once my home too, for 7 years. So I have been watching their activity, following the storm and keeping up with what has been happening with it.
My kids have also been quite interested in its events as well, asking quite a bit of questions. They don't remember, but they have lived through a couple of doozie hurricanes themselves. But I remember well those storms.
Elizabeth was 2 and Joseph was only 4 months old. We chose to stay. From experience, let me tell you that trying to evacuate a state that is going crazy over the approaching storms is just as ridiculous as those from the outside would say trying to stay in the storm is. Both come with risks. We got hit with the effects of 4 storms that fall, but 2 were doozies in our city. The first, Hurricane Frances came rolling in just after labor day. In florida, the temperatures at that time are no joke. It's hot and it's humid. We weathered the storm at our in-laws and came home to assess the damage a day or 2 after it passed. We lost power and branches and there were other minor inconveniences, but we "weathered" the storm alright. Another storm came rolling in behind that one not long after Frances. Hurricane Jeanne came in, and she came as a direct hit to our city. We also chose to stay for that one. We stayed at a friend's home, who had a generator, as many of us were still without power at that time from the first hit.
I've never really sat and described the experience (I was not a blogger at that time). It's one of those things hard to put to words. The house is completely dark. Shutters cover every window and every door, so it's a really strange experience because it feels like the middle of the night, but it's really the middle of the day. When you lose power and everything is covered, it's very easy to lose track of what time it is. Joseph, a typically very happy baby, was miserable in the heat with no air (our friends had not activated the generator yet, as we waited for the storm to pass.) The winds were wicked, as you could hear them whipping against the shutters and tossing things around outdoors. We did our best to make a party out of the storm.
When the eye of the storm passed over, it was the weirdest time. They call the eye of the storm the calm, and it is. It gets completely quiet. The wind goes away. The sun comes out. The men decided that was a good time to go outside for a quick check of what's happening. It felt like it was over. But we knew that the second half was yet to come. The experience was unforgettable.
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| HURRICANE JEANNE, 2004 |
The point is not really to tell you the story about my hurricane experience. The point is that all of this hurricane talk lately has not only made me recall my experiences, but it has also brought with it thoughts about life's storms. (Call that the writer in me, or maybe just how God helps me learn.)
Life is messy sometimes. We get storms of our own that threaten to beat us down or change our way of life. Some storms threaten us in more powerful ways than others. And some seasons, we have more than one "hit" to our life. In fact, sometimes it feels like the hits just don't stop.
I am not good at explaining to people who ask why God would allow such tragedies (be it in regards to death, cancer, divorce, job loss.. or hurricanes, fires, wars...) But I can explain what i have learned, sharing how regardless of tragedies, I know that God is always there. I know that even when tragedy strikes, God is still in control. I know that, if I allow Him, He will use the storms to transform me into a stronger woman - a better Rachael, a stronger daughter of the King, a woman to be used by Him. But sometimes I have to look back at the storms of the past to remember how He has done that for me before so that I can keep pressing forward through the storm of today.
There is a song that says "In the eye of the storm, You remain in control. In the middle of the war, You guard my soul. You alone are my anchor, when the sails are torn. Your love surrounds me, in the eye of the storm."
You can listen to the song here
Life can be tough sometimes (understatement.) But I can use these every day life experiences to remind me just the same of how He is in control.
By the way, we lost some pieces of our roof and had to get it replaced, we were without power for 2+ weeks, but we survived the direct hit that year, as well as the other storms that affected us in those surrounding weeks. Which reminds me that when the storms come, He will be there; and in the end, I know it will be ok.
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