Thoughts on Hurricanes

Living through Hurricane Andrew was an experience I don't really want to repeat, but one that brought about several lessons.  First, prepare, prepare, prepare.  Secondly, don't hold on (emotionally) to material possessions because they truly become dust in the wind.  Lastly, after the storm passes, the sun will come out and the weather will be balmy and beautiful (at least for a day).

As Hurricane Irene made its way scarily close to us on Thursday, the weather was horrible.  We were pretty much shut in the house all day because the squalls were so unpredictable and came with inordinate amounts of rain and wind.  Even though I needed to go to the grocery store, I decided to stay in with the kids and pull out something from the freezer for dinner.  Luckily, I had made spaghetti sauce last week and frozen the leftovers.  The day was long being shut in, but I thought about the day after Andrew and particularly Wilma.  I remember the weather being so windy and sunny.  It was more like an early spring day.  Our summers are so hot, humid, and usually still that the wind and cooler weather is like a little gift amidst the chaos in the aftermath.

So, I was thinking what the weather would be like on Friday.  Lo and behold, I woke up Friday morning to one of the most glorious South Florida skies I have ever seen.  The sky was blue blue blue and with very few clouds.  The breezes were strong and the temps were below 90 - definitely a gift in the middle of August!  I made sure I spent as much time as I could outside with the kids on Friday.   It was so unusually beautiful for our time of year that it made me think of how all that big blue beautiful sky was there all along under that rain - it's just easy to forget when you can't see much beyond the end of your car in the sheets of rain.

In our lives, we endure many storms.  It's difficult to see beyond them or our way out sometimes, but God is always there.  He is always with us, like the blue sky.  This time of year, it is easy to get bogged down under the pressures of daily family life with the advent of the new school year.  There are a million responsibilities and it's easy to forget to breathe and remember what's important in life.  The things that matter are the things that matter to God.  It's not whether your kids have straight A's or if they're the best ball player or ballerina.  What matters are your relationships with your family - your children and your husband or wife.  Our lives are really made up of a lot of little storms with a few hurricanes thrown in.  Our faith gets us through these storms.  It's the faith in knowing that God's mercy is always there and that the calm is usually just around the corner.  God has a plan for each of us and we are called to be faithful.

The three lessons I learned from Hurricane Andrew apply to our everyday lives.  First, prepare: prepare your family for a life with Christ.  Your only goal as a parent is to get your children to heaven.  Secondly, don't worry about the trinkets and knick-knacks.  They become dust in a hurricane and prove that God's love and mercy is always stronger than any problem we might be hanging on to.  And lastly, as a sunny sky is almost always inevitable after a storm, so it is in your life.  Walk with Christ always - even in your storms - and you will find love and mercy.

I pray tonight for the citizens of North Carolina and on up the Eastern Seaboard.  May they all have minimal damage from Hurricane Irene, and may they see God's love and mercy even amidst this storm.