MICHAEL

MICHAEL

How quickly time has passed since my last post.

Many things have happened, but I feel the need to get back to 

sharing with you some of the things that I have learned.

On October 10 we experienced the worst hurricane

to ever impact our area.   

Hurricane Michael was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane

to make landfall  in the contiguous United States in terms of pressure,

 the fourth-strongest land falling hurricane in the

contiguous United States in terms of wind speed

and it was the strongest storm on record in the Florida Panhandle.

Wikipedia

It was powerful, surprising and destructive … and

 there will never be another Hurricane Michael   

The Guardian

Since I live about 60 miles inland, storms normally 

start to die before they hit our area.  But...

As I heard the reports that it was becoming stronger and that there 

would be a curfew imposed in the early morning, 

I was urged by my children to leave home for a safer place.  

My son lives farther inland near the Alabama line and 

he wanted me to come there.  

I quickly packed my things and loaded up 

my dog and kitten and left.

I asked the Lord to give me some promise 

to take with me through the storm.

He gave me...

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: 

not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

John 14:27

The storm only put down two smaller trees and some limbs 

at my son's home, but there were trees down 

everywhere in the neighborhood.

The next day we headed back to see how my house 

had fared.  You had to hunt for a road with even one lane 

clear enough to drive through.  
The eye of the storm passed through between my town 
and another just east of here.

As we approached my house I wondered what I would see

since it is an older frame house.

As we topped the rise the first thing I saw was

most of my trees were down, some broken off and 

some (including my big oak) up by the roots.  

But then I saw my house!

It looked like nothing had happened.  

The house looked like it did when I left.

Then we went inside.  A narrow strip of shingles 

on the roof in the back was gone.

Inside, there was wet, soggy insulation 

all over the kitchen floor, several inches deep.

About 1/3 of the ceiling in the kitchen was on the floor.

The rest of the house only had 

a few water spots on the ceiling.
There was only water on the tile floor, 
none on the carpet!

I had a little damage outside, but nothing major.
While some are still waiting for adjusters to assess 
their damage or receive repairs, 
my home is done except for a
little painting of the ceiling.

I am blessed!

I only told you all of this to show you how God has blessed me.

There are so many others who have suffered immensely.

Don't forget to pray for them.

The city of Mexico Beach on the coast was wiped out.

Panama City suffered great damage.  

Other cities along the coast were devastated.

The wonderful thing is that there was minimal loss of life.

I am blessed!

It is three and a half months since the storm and 

the clean up has only begun.

There is no way to say the total devastation of the landscape.

We had so many trees and did not realize how blessed we were.

They are gone.  

I heard that 75% of the trees are damaged or gone.

I never understood why people would say they were confused

after some of the storms, but I do now.

Nothing looks like our area.

The landmarks are gone.

We have also been having many rainy days and 

a few bad thunderstorms since then.  

the water is not being absorbed because of the loss of vegetation.

Through all of this the Lord has shown me some lessons

that I will share with you in future blogs 

since this one has become so long.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; 

for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; 

yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Isaiah 41:10

A big thank you to all of my faithful followers.
I appreciate you for sticking with me.