The memory of those first few moments upon awakening Saturday, August 14, is unforgettable. Most likely it was the heat that woke me early that morning and for the next several days that we did not have power while the temperatures were reaching 104 that week. As my mind began to race with thoughts, emotions and ideas of the events of the past 36 hours I wanted to get to the computer and begin writing. But besides the fact that we could not even turn on a fan much less a computer, I knew that it was time to get up and start moving.
There was so much to do. So many people who needed help and many friends and family to check on to see if they were alright, where they stayed out the storm and the conditions of their homes and businesses. We’d already seen quite a bit of the main streets in Port Charlotte the night before as we arrived back into town behind the storm and checked on four of our homes, so most of that day was spent going into Venice and Sarasota through Englewood twice looking for places to get ice, gas and camping supplies. The next morning 12 of us met at George and Karen’s home in Englewood (their power was already back on) to have church, dinner and then make plans on how we could help our families and friends. Chain saws, gas, work gloves, drinks, snacks and other essentials were purchased in Sarasota and we started the following morning.
Over the next several days while traveling through Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda we saw the traffic get heavier each moment as the emergency crews and help began to flood the streets. We found that gas and ice were the daily needs that required time spent in line! One day two of our loaded vans inched our way for half and hour to an ice station for free ice. On another day we were blessed to have Karen & George bring coolers of ice in from Venice and meet us before heading out to cut trees and remove debris from a friend’s home in Punta Gorda where he couldn’t even get into the driveway.
Thursday before the storm hit Florida we put up the hurricane shutters and packed a few things for an overnight stay somewhere if necessary. I packed all of our photos, even removing them from frames for easier packing and we put the huge heavy container in the van. Then we watched all of the news updates throughout the evening, made several phone calls and went to bed thinking we’d head to Richard’s about noon since the storm would probably not hit us till late in the afternoon. When I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and went into the bathroom I could not believe the wind that I was hearing and already feeling against the house. And the sky was all lit up from the constant lightning strikes. My first thought was that it was impossible for Charley to be here already, not realizing how severe those outer bands can be. While my tired body wanted to just go back to bed and listen to the innocent wind while drifting back to sleep, a sudden fear hit me and I wanted nothing more than to get out of there! Our wood frame home not only sits in between two canals which meet at the corner of our property and opens into the Myakka River, but it also sits up on stilts. (Several weeks ago we had experienced a storm with winds up to around 35 or 40 mph and the vibration we felt in our home was a bit unsettling to meI could not imagine how this home would feel during Category 4 strength winds!) When I told Kevin I wanted to go ‘NOW!’ he had no problem with that.
We had shutters on all but two of the windowsone of the kids’ bedroom windows and the bathroom window next to it. I thought that at least those windows might be broken and there’d be water damage in those rooms. The last thing I did before leaving home was close the bathroom door and put a pillow on the floor to absorb water.
The morning was spent at Richard’s watching the news. About noon there were 10 of us who, after much prayer and God’s leading, decided it best to head east. We caravanned in three vehicles, drove through Arcadia and stopped in Okeechobee (to use Kevin’s mom’s bathroom and visit for a short few minutes), then headed for Jupiter where the plan was to stay at the home of our friends, Ted and Chris, for at least a few hours before heading back. We’d been in touch with them throughout the storm preparations and knew we were welcome to spend the night if necessary. After having dinner just south of Jupiter, the wind began to pick up and we heard it was heading east, so we decided to head south! We then took Alligator Alley back across the state and headed up 75 toward Ft. Myers, making a big circle ahead of the storm, then snuck up behind it as it was leaving our area. What an adventure and what testimonies are coming out of this. Always along the way we stayed in touch by phone with each other, praying as we went for the Lord’s leading on every turn.
We were, of course, anxious to get back home and……?
Headed back into Port Charlotte (we’d seen quite a bit of wind damage along 75 coming up through Ft. Myers) we decided to stop at Dan and Linda’s home first since they were out of town vacationing on their way to our convention in Dallas! (9 more of us had our airline tickets to go to Dallas on the 18th, but ended up canceling our trip) Paul and Jessica, who were with us in the van, had their house keys since they were house sitting. We were not prepared for what we saw in their neighborhood of Deep Creek–total devastation. It was around 10 pm and we were some of the first vehicles probably to venture back in there. It was very difficult to maneuver around the trees and drive over downed power lines. Their home lost most of its shingles, all of the pool cage, windows blown in, and glass and water damage throughout most of the home. We had a battery operated lantern to see around. From there we made our way to Richard’s home where the neighborhood was also very devastated though not quite as bad as Deep Creek. Richard’s home was intact with only one window blown in, yet not broken, and a huge tree in the front yard was uprooted. He also lost 75 shingles off of his roof. At this point (midnight) we left the kids at Richard’s while Paul and Jessica went with us to check on our home. Most of the homes in the neighborhood are mobile homes as well as some condos across the canal from us. Many of the homes had quite a bit of damage, trees uprooted, roofs taken off and the third home you see when you enter our little area called El Jobean had the entire front yard uprooted with all the trees crushing that home.
While God had already told Kevin that our home would be alright, I had my moments throughout the day where you could say that my faith wavered! So when we started down our driveway it was a breathtaking moment to see our little home standing straight and tall! The most damage was a porch slat blown out, one shingle gone from the side of the house and a small piece of tin roof that had blown off the spare room downstairs! Every mango, lemon and tangerine is gone from the trees, but all of our citrus and palms are still firmly planted. The neighbor’s tree uprooted and landed next to our home with a few branches in our carport! The house did look like it had been pressure washed and some of the paint was gone from the porch. God is sooooo good! The condos across the canal had roof and window damage. Also across the canal is an interesting scene where a truck has a huge palm tree laying across the hood yet we don’t see a hole in the ground where the tree came from. And the home that sits right next to ours had the porch roof and shutters blown off and their shed ended up across our driveway and in the other neighbor’s yard.
Next we went to Paul and Jessica’s apartment. Their neighborhood was also very hard hit and it wasn’t easy getting there, but their 2nd story apartment was intact with only a jammed door. Jim and his son, Ethan, were also with us and though their home was intact the pool cage was gone and the neighborhood around them was devastated.
One of the testimonies is of a church overseas praying for those of us who evacuated. They prayed our homes would be left untouched which is what happened! Although some received minor damage we were all able to live in our homes. Paul and Jessica stayed at Richard’s for a few days until the Bibbs’ got back into town. Richard at least had a generator to run fans and make coffee! Then Paul and Jessica came to our house even though we still had no power and Dan and Linda stayed at Richard’s. They are currently looking for a new home. Frank brought us a generator from Fort Myers and lots and lots of supplies like propane, water, flashlights, etc. One day Kevin’s folks brought fried chicken and potato salad over from Okeechobee for our whole crew and for Kevin’s sister and her family whose home was very hard hit. At our home we could enjoy some nightly breezes coming off the water. Then when Paul and Jessica’s home did get power a week later, they stayed with us for 10 more days so that a friend of ours could stay at their place with her daughter and grandchild until they got power in Punta Gorda.
It’s been two weeks since Charley has come and gone and those first waking moments that Saturday morning are still so embedded in my mind. The fact that we had been able to spend the night in our own home was such a blessing! I knew there would be a story to tell and many testimonies that had already come out of it. I also knew we’d only begun to learn a whole lot about a lot of things! As I lay in bed and thanked the Lord again for our lives, our health and our home, I also thought about the fact that life in our county would not be the same for a long time if ever again. That’s not to say that homes and businesses would not be rebuilt because certainly they will. But people will change either for the better or for the worse. This kind of catastrophe does not leave people complacent, which is exactly what I believe God is looking for.
Because this very, very powerful storm hit such a large area it is amazing that more people did not lose their lives. Some of the deaths that did occur were, in my opinion, due to wrong decisions to stay either in their home or even stand out under a tree! Many did stay home and when you look at the devastation you wonder again why there were not more deaths. Even now knowing that we would have been safe had we stayed at home or even in Richard’s home where we almost stayed with several others, it is just not something we would have wanted to put the kids through or go through ourselves. After hearing the accounts of friends who did stay and what they went through I know that we made the right decision to evacuate and would definitely do it again.
The fact that we circled the state ahead of the storm then came back into town behind the storm has taken on new meaning to me in a spiritual sense. God didn’t want us to experience the terror of being in the midst of the storm, yet we could see it in the distance as we traveled that day. We could see it behind us and we could see the clouds to the north, then we felt the winds begin to blow in the east and we saw the storm ahead of us while on the way back. On the way back we realized that we’d hardly even used much gas on the tripmuch less than we would have normally used going that many miles!
There are times when we have to go ‘through’ the storms of lifefinancial hardships, deaths, sickness, heartache. But when you are a child of the Most High God with Jesus as Lord of your life you can face the winds of changeand these winds DO bring about change! What’s important is how we accept what God has given and has taken awayit’s all His anyway. As parents we have the right to give our children gifts and then we have the right to take them away if the gifts are misused, abused or if they will affect the safety of their lives. God is a jealous God and throughout history He has given to and taken away from His people. And there is always a reason for it. He loves us more than we love our own children so why wouldn’t He discipline us for our own good? This storm should be a wake-up call to many who have disregarded the Lord and have put up idols before Himtheir homes and belongings, cars, businesses and even churches! Many churches were destroyed. Many church buildings have become idols and the contents within have become more important to its leaders and congregation than their relationship with God Himself.
Jesus says in John 14:15 “If you love me you’ll obey my commands.” It stands to reason if anyone is not in obedience to God then they do not love Him. Why would anyone who does not love the Lord think that they will go to Heaven when they die? But they do think that. It is often said that God is a loving God and He won’t send anyone to hell. That is not what the Bible says. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says that not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father (paraphrased). How many people are actually doing the will of the Father? Most people are doing their own will! God has a perfect will and perfect plan for each of our lives and we all need to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We each need to seek His face and His righteousness and THEN all these things shall be added unto us (Matthew 6:33). Many people are seemingly blessed by being surrounded with material possessions and good health and successful businesses. But where did it come from? By their own hard work doing it their way putting all of that first in their lives? If what we have done with our lives has not been led by God then our ‘blessings’ are not of or from Him. Sometimes we go through seasons in our lives where everything seems to be great. Then when disaster strikes in any form, we want to blame God, wondering why He didn’t stop it. He allows many things to happen in our lives simply because they are a direct result or consequence of our own actions. When a major catastrophe such as a hurricane strikes we know that He did allow it and we need to be asking what He may be trying to teach us.
When Charley was just off of our coast and we learned that it may hit Tampa or it may hit us, it just wasn’t the right thing to pray that it not hit our county. It is never right to pray for the hardship to go somewhere else where it may harm somebody else. It is right to accept the will of God and praise Him in it and ask Him what He is trying to show us. When we praise Him IN THE STORM and while in bondage (like Paul & Silas did in prison), then we can expect the chains to come off! We can expect Him to bring us through.
Many people are without work because the storm affected their jobs, while some have plenty of work because their jobs deal in the cleanup effort or medical or handyman work. Either way we see people who are distraught, helpless and hopeless. Kids go back to school tomorrow and their hours are either 6:30 - 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. This is a hardship to many as it conflicts with parents’ work schedules, but another major problem is going to be the sickness that kids and teachers will suffer in the mold infested school buildings. It was already a problem in the schools, but now it is worse.
As I write this the storm Gaston just hit the South Carolina coast today bringing destruction and many there are without power as well as flooding. The Philipines were just hit with a typhoon and there have been major storms in Iowa this week where three counties have been declared a state of emergency. And Hurricane Frances is out there in the Atlantic heading towards Florida if it stays on its projected path. Somewhere next week many people will again, more than likely, lose their homes.
I mentioned earlier that during the day of the storm my faith had wavered at times concerning the safety of our home. I wanted so much to believe that it would be intact and that Zoe, our cat, and our fish would be okay. Just before leaving early that morning I folded our quilt and wanted to take it. Kevin assured me again that everything would be safe so after a moment of thought I put the quilt back down and declared that to be my point of faith. I felt that if I took the quilt it would be due to my lack of faith. (By the way, the quilt was dry and Zoe was a little shook up. My betta (fish) is fine, though we eventually lost the boys’ fish with the power off that long.)
During the day I dealt with my off and on fears with a vision of three angels on the roof of our home. I wasn’t sure why there were three at the time, but after seeing our home compared to everything else around, I’ve come to the conclusion that there were two angels on the sides of our A-frame home and one on the roof of the spare room on the first floor next to the house.
God is awesome and He teaches us so much when we are teachable. Daily we need to search our hearts and see what takes first place within. Praise Him for His faithfulness and the way that He cares for us.
Copyright 2004 http://www.sonwalking.org
Kim Newsome and her husband, Kevin, are ministers of the Gospel who desire only to walk in God’s will for their lives.
Tags: Charley, faith, HurricaneRecently:
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