Since it is raining heavily thismorning, it seems like a good time to talk about my experiences with Ike. This blog turned out a little longer than I intended, so you may want to wait till you have a while to read it.
The week before the storm, I didn't really believe the hurricane would actually hit us. I guess it's partly because every time a hurricane is in the gulf, they always predict it will hit us, but until now, one never actually has in the time I have lived here. Anyways, by the time I realized this one (Ike) was probably actually going to affect us, I became worried. With my two young children, and my job in the ER, I had conflicting interests. I am supposed to stay at the hospital during the storm, but I really wanted to be with my family. I wanted John to take the kids out of town, but he didn't want to go without me. I didn't know if I should stay in town and risk the saftey of my family, or if I should leave town and possibly lose my job and my nursing liscense. I immediatly decided to pray fo guidance and wisdom. This is a request I have made many times in my life, and many times I felt like I did not recieve an answer. This time however, a sense of peace overwhelmed me, and I knew my family and I would be fine and that we could stay in town for the hurricane.
My sense of peace was interrupted later that day (Thursday), when my manager called asking when I was going to come in. I wanted to be there to help my co-workers and any Hurricane victims, but I also felt like my children needed me to be home durig the storm. After discussing my situation with my manager, she said she would see what she could do and would call me back. I was skeptical as I have had the same manager for over a year, and this was the first time I had ever spoken with her. I immediatley told John of the situation, and then I began to pray again. After praying, my previous sense of calm and relief returned. My manager then called me back and said if I would work that night (Thursday night), then she would not ask me to come in the rest of the weekend. Although I was tired from a day of taking cafe of my family and making hurricane preperations, I jumped at the chance. This way, I was able to be with my family during and after the hurricane. I quickly said a prayer of thanks and started getting ready for work.
During Hurricane Ike, I was actaully not scared. The wind and rain raged outside for a very long 12 hrs or more, but I was confident that we would be safe. I think this knowledge allowed me to really appreciate the power and energy that the storm carried with it. Of course, I am grieved by the damage and disrupted or lost lives caused by Ike, but when you see something like that and experience the winds and the rain, you have to concede that there are things larger and more powerful than ourselves. And if the wind and rain can be so powerful, how much more powerful must the God that created them be.
The kids slept through most of the Hurricane since it hit in the middle of the night. When Jessica woke up, she just looked out the window and said "it's raining," as if she were making a simple observation. Jacob didn't seem to notice anything.
Our power went out very early in the storm, so we were not able to get updates. We did have a wind-up radio, so were were able to listen to the local news on the radio, but they were not giving any useful information (such as where the storm was and when it should pass). Instead, they yammered on about the Astros and Texans having to re-schedule their games, and asked the power companies to speculate about the damage (which they could not possible have known how many lines were down while everybody was confined inside buildings), and speculated about how soon the relief efforts would start after the storm. They also took the opportunity to say "I told you so," by commenting that they have been saying for years to prepare for a Hurricane and that we all should have made our hurricane kits and stocked up on gas and supplies long ago so we would not be sitting there in the dark with no power and no food. Can I just say that in the middle of a hurricane, I really could have cared less about the Astro's game or about speculations, and the "I told you so" just made me mad. I guess if you make enough predictions, one of them is bound to be correct. And, honestly, how many times can you use the words "hunker down?" Aparently a lot. I just wanted to know where the storm was, and how much more we had to endure. Our cell-phones were getting little to no service, but luckily John's mother was able to get through to us at about 4am and told us the eye of the storm was a couple miles west of us. Luckily, the rest of the storm passed pretty uneventfully. There was no damage to our house, and we were all safe. Most of the damage in the neighborhood was from fallen trees (which there were a lot of).
Saturday afternoon, when the storm had finally passed, it was very hot and humid, and still raining. You could not open the windows without getting rain in the house. Jacob started getting hot and fussy. We did not really want to leave the house since we had no clue where the storm was or what the road conditions would be like (our news was still talking about the Astros). It was pretty clear though that the kids were going to be miserable without power though. Later that day, I finally got ahold of my brother in Dallas, who told us there was no bad weather between here and Dallas. It was a big relief knowing that if we could get out of town, we didn't have to worry about catching up with the storm. We didn't really want to head out driving with the kids, but we didn't want to sit here and make them miserable if we would be without power for a long time. I said another prayer for guidance and wisdom, and decided to go to Dallas. We had little trouble getting out of town (people had already started clearing the roads), and once we got out of town, there was no traffic the rest of the way.
Throughout the next two weeks, there were many instances where I found myself praying for guidance. Each time, we recieved it, and were able to make the best decisions. John stayed with us the first week, and then came home to go back to work. My relatives babysat our children so I could return to Houston to work on the weekends, and I went back to Dallas during the week. After two weeks, we finally got our power back. I was in Houston working that weekend, and the kids were in Dallas. So, I went to Dallas that Sunday and brought them home Monday.
It is just amazing that everything worked out as well as it did. At every turn, the Lord directed us to the best possible decisions. I am so thankful that he answered my prayers and saw us through such a difficult time. We were so blessed to make it through with no damage to our house and all of us safe. I am also thankful for the feeling of peace and closeness I recieved from Him throughout the whole ordeal. Now that it is over, I hope that I can hold on to that relationship and continue to pray, consult, and give thanks as frequently as I did during the storm.
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