It’s the end of August and we’re deep into hurricane season here in what is otherwise known as “the sunshine state.”
Hurricane season technically starts in June, but it’s usually not until August and September that the storms really start brewing — and this year was no different.
Like clockwork, school started, both of my kids subsequently picked up the obligatory case of whatever plague was circulating amongst their classmates, and then a tropical depression formed in the gulf…with every intention of becoming a full blown hurricane and heading our way.
So, we’ve spent the last few days battening down the hatches, gathering flashlights, batteries, bottled water, and of course plenty of hurricane snacks, and now we’re ready as we’ll ever be to ride out this storm.
It took me a while, but now doing things like filling bathtubs to the brim with water and sticking pennies in the freezer have almost become second nature to me this time of year.
But I’m not a native Floridian, so as you can imagine, in the beginning it was quite an adjustment.
During our first few years in Florida, there weren’t many hurricanes at all…and even the ones that came our way tended to fizzle out to Tropical Storm status before even making landfall.
But then Hurricane Irma came in 2017 and ended that streak for us.
Irma was a category 5 storm forecasted to make a direct hit to our area. We were freaked out…so while many native Floridians, including my in-laws, stayed and hunkered down…we did what any sane Florida transplant would do — loaded up the van and ran. 😂
Thankfully, we had family in north Alabama who were gracious enough to lend us a couple of spare rooms for the week!
When we returned home after the storm had passed, we were very surprised to find we hadn’t incurred much hurricane damage at all — a couple of loose shingles and missing fence slats, and that was it. (Of course, the inside of the house was a whole ‘nother story…but that was mostly because of the two little hurricanes I gave birth to. 😂😬😵💫)
Long story short, we’ve never run from a hurricane since — and surprisingly I’ve grown to feel pretty confident about it…as long as we’ve got our generator and plenty of snacks. 😂 It’s also comforting to know that we live in a block home that is built to hurricane code and that we are far enough from the coast that we don’t have to worry about completely evacuating.
Thanks to Doppler radar, we can see a hurricane coming from (more than) a mile away, giving us (and thousands of other Floridians) ample time to act and prepare — a phenomenon that the grocery store shelves bear witness to every year. People know life is at stake and time is of the essence — and so they prepare.
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If you’ve read any of my blogs before, you knew this post wasn’t just going to be about a hurricane. You knew at some point, I was going to bring up my favorite Book…and you were right.
I can never ride out a Hurricane without thinking of the story that Jesus tells in the Bible about the wise builder and the foolish builder.
Matthew 7:24-27 says:
“24 ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.25 And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone hearing these words of Mine and not doing them, may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand.27 And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.’”
Jesus is not teaching us how to be ready for a hurricane, but for the storms of life…which are far more unpredictable and often more tumultuous than any hurricane could ever be.
One thing that hit me as I was thinking about this scripture, is that he is teaching us all of this from the standpoint of “when,” not “if.”
Because it is not a question of “if” the storms come, will your house stand firm?…but rather “when” the storms come, will your house stand firm?
Living life thinking you will never have a storm come through is about as silly as living in Florida and thinking you’ll never see a hurricane!!
We build our houses to hurricane standards down here — our windows are rated for high winds, our roof trusses to hurricane code, and of course most of us have cement block walls.
And despite popular belief, most of us don’t own ocean front properties either…we’re not that dumb…nor that rich, for that matter. 😂
When the storm comes, it’s no longer “location, location, location” that matters most…but rather “foundation, foundation, foundation.”
When the rains and the winds set in, the time for construction is over — and at that point, all you can do is ride it out and hope your house will withstand the onslaught.
That’s just like life…we have to prepare today for the storms of the future by making choices that are built on the foundation of Jesus’ words.
Because storms will come in everyone’s life (God makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust) even if you’ve built your house to God’s standards.
But the good news is this — if Jesus is your foundation, you might lose a few shingles, but your house will stand firm. It will stand the test of the storm!
And you? You will be safe inside eating your snacks.
Please join me in praying for all those in the path of the storm, whether literally or figuratively.
I pray that no matter the circumstances, your house will stand firm through it all.
Until next time,
PWAP