stacey-thacker-frame-mock-up_even-if_rectangle

It has been a long, long week.

I was telling someone close to me who hasn’t lived in Florida or experienced a hurricane, that the hardest part is the mental fatigue. You hear about the storm, you casually think about the storm, it gets closer, you think about storm prep, and then they release approximately 500 scenarios all of which you need to have a plan for. And then it shifts and suddenly plan #501 is the actual plan. At that point you spend every spare moment (while trying to work ahead in case you lose power) executing the plan. You move through that plan in double-time. Because the clock is now ticking.

This all happens before the storm arrives.

Of course, the actual storm is out of your control, but it is generally not pleasant to go through. I mean you have snacks (if your kids haven’t found them while you were busy executing the plan) but still, as big weather moves toward you and over you it is all kinds of stressful.

And then, as luck has it, the big weather is overnight. So sleep is not really possible unless you sleep like the dead which this mom has never done.

Now with the mental fatigue you have real physical fatigue.

When I got up at 6 am or so, there was a river where my road used to be. And by river, I mean it had waves moving it toward our home. And it kept getting closer. So close we woke our kids and said, “Pack a bag.” I also drank coffee. Which was hot because even though I had planned for it, we did not lose electricity. You should know, we live in an urban area. We don’t have a lake or a big body of water near us. We do have an overflow canal that apparently overflowed.

What happened next is really grace. And God saying, “Nope. That is far enough.” And the water went backwards down the street and to who knows where.

So, I’m tired. My whole body hurts. But I’m so grateful. And aware that the wind and waves truly obey his voice.

Many others have been devastated by this massive storm. It is real. And they have had it much harder than my family has had it this week. I heard the weatherman say, “Hurricanes have a real purpose. They take a great deal of heat from the ocean and transfer it to the atmosphere.” But I’m thinking, the real purpose is to remind us that kind of power only belongs to God.

Pray for Southwest Florida where Ian powered through. Pray for Central Florida flooding and our friends who are scattered—many without power and pray for the east coast we love so much that has been hammered.

God is with us. He never left us.

Looking Forward,

Stacey