Sometimes blessings show up in the most unexpected circumstances.
Last weekend as the state of Florida geared up for Hurricane Irma, those of us in Georgia did the same. We were told to secure all of our deck furniture and anything else that might not be able to withstand the hurricane force winds that we might be getting. We were expecting the winds and rain on Monday.
On Saturday, my hubby and I attended a prayer service at our church specifically focusing on the hurricane. As people of God, we believe that the Creator of the wind and the rain also has the power to contain it.
When we returned home, we battened down the hatches and waited. It was amazing how beautiful the weather was on that Saturday before the storm. It was difficult to believe that calamity was heading our way. But, isn’t that always the case with life? Aren’t we usually happily sailing along blissfully unaware, when disaster strikes?
When Monday arrived and the forcasted weather with it, we kept watch. We lost power, cable and internet around 4:00. The giant oak trees in my backyard swayed with the wind gusts and I prayed that they would stand. My family and I made the best of our situation and played cards and board games.
At around 6:00, when we were eating sandwiches for dinner, we heard a crash. A neighbor’s poplar tree had fallen on the corner of our house, pulling all of our power, cable and phone lines from the house, onto the ground.
When the storm passed, we were amazed. Not one oak tree fell. We didn’t even have huge branches down. Those trees would have done some major destruction and possibly even caused injury, but they held.
While we braced for days without power because we had lines on the ground, our power was restored within 24 hours. On the following Friday, the cable guy came and looked at the damage and told us they couldn’t touch their lines until the power company got theirs off of the ground.
Saturday morning, we had cable and internet restored.
As I write this, all of the lines are on the ground, yet we have power, cable and internet. While I know there’s an explanation, I also know that God had His hand in it.
The tree has been removed and the insurance company has been contacted.
Honestly, I don’t know when I have felt so blessed. The tree stayed on the house for a week and every time I saw it, I was reminded of how bad it could have been. I was reminded of the people who lost their homes and people who lost their lives and I was prompted to offer prayers for them.
That fallen poplar tree made me more thankful than I have been in a long time. It’s falling, reminded me of the power of prayer and the power of God. It reminded me of what’s important and what’s not. It reminded me of the beauty of the generosity of neighbors. It reminded me to be at peace because God is in control.
Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂