In the Path of the Storm

I'm interrupting this otherwise peaceful interlude between my usual weekly blog posts to give an update on our status with regard to Hurricane Idalia. 

First, I'll say I'm relieved that those who give hurricanes a name are past the first letters of our names in this household (B and G). There is no concern to having a destructive storm named after us (for this year, anyway).

Hurricane Idalia is approaching; Gary feels we may lose power, so while my verbiage can still connect with the Internet, I thought I'd record what we've done to prepare.

Forecasters say the effects of the hurricane here in our part of North Central Florida will probably be starting around 5pm today with the arrival of the eye of the storm in the wee morning hours on Wednesday. The “cone” seems to wobble a bit every few hours, sometimes with us inside its boundaries and other times just outside of it on the right edge (the “dirty” side, as it’s called, where you’ll find some of the worst weather, including powerful gusty winds and the largest tornado risk). 

While I am not afraid, I don’t look forward to being without air conditioning and fans. One would think that with the passing of a huge storm like this, the air would cool and the wind might even feel refreshing. I’ve learned from previous hurricanes that it’s not especially like that. Our high temps have been in the mid-nineties and tomorrow the high is supposed to dip down to 88 or 89. Not a lot of relief. 

And of course a hurricane brings humid air. The consolation with that is humidity gives my hair more body and plumps the skin so my wrinkles are not so pronounced. 👍🏻

Prior to their move to Florida, Gary and his late wife lived for some 13 years on 5 acres in Virginia, a couple hours west of Washington DC. From the front of their house they could see Skyline Drive where many tourists would drive from Front Royal to Charlotte, in the Appalachian Mountains. 

He tells me that during winter snow storms they often lost power. As a result, he acquired (and kept) handy stuff such as a camp cooking gear and all manner of flashlights and lanterns, and so forth. 

We have got our cordless phone chargers charged and as you saw on FaceBook, we’ve been eating ice cream so it won’t go to waste. Between the two of us, we have a lot of non-food frozen items for headaches and injuries that we keep in the freezer all the time in the bottom bin. This morning Gary distributed those throughout the shelves of the freezer to help prolong the cold temperature on our food. We just have the kitchen refrigerator/freezer. We seldom entertain, so that is all we need for just the two of us.

I am aware of at least  5 sister bloggers who are similarly affected by the approach of Hurricane Idalia (one is probably getting the first rain bands even now). I have begun to pray for you all and I know for a certainty that many of you are also praying. Thank you! As my BFF in Colorado has often said, "Your prayers will not be wasted."

As I've said in recent posts, our Lord tells us to expect storms, they are a normal part of life now, before we reach heaven. But in them He is with us at all times, even when our world seems to be falling apart. Most of us already acknowledge this but do we really apply it when times are tough? 

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all of our heart and to not lean on our own understanding. That means to not depend too heavily on what we think is going on. We may be completely wrong. God wants us to rely on Him, His judgment, His way of doing things. A storm is a lot like having a baby: the labor and delivery may hurt like the dickens, but the result is intended to be good, very good.

I hope to resume to publishing my usual weekend blog post with a report of how Idalia treated us in her passing. But if not, then I'll write later, when things have settled down.

Until then, grace and peace.