Hurdles to Relay Race

Hurricane Irene was predicted to devastate, demolish and destroy communities across North Carolina.  For the past week, we have been inundated with how destructive this storm was going to be.  Having lived in Florida for 3 years, I knew what I needed to do.  My husband would have had the checklist out and we would have read it off like a predeployment military supply list.  I knew we needed lots of drinking water and canned goods, in case we lost power and water.  Those were the "gimmes" on the list.  Then I made sure we had our electronics powered up, tubs filled with water for boiling, bathing or flushing, and the household chores were completed so I could just sit and wait out the storm.

Now, we're inland enough that I knew we wouldn't have the full force of the eye of the hurricane.  So, when friends would call, text or Facebook me with messages about how we were doing and how prepared we were, I assured them over and over again that we would be fine and were as ready as we'll ever be.  I truly believed that we were.  I had gone over my checklist.  I even turned the refrigerator and air conditioner to a lower temperature so that if we lost power, we wouldn't lose our food or cool air as quickly.  I was ready to have Little Man come and snuggle with me because of his dislike of all things storm-related.  This storm may have consumed the media for the past week, but it wasn't going to consume our family.  We were ready.

Until my front tree toppled over.  That wasn't on my checklist.  I didn't have any more power to secure the outside botanical life to the ground than I had control over the direction that Irene decided to take.  So, after watching the storm from the comfort of my bed and feeling pretty confident that we were through the worst of it, I headed out to our kitchen to grab some breakfast.  Since I had not touched my cell phone (not hubby's iPhone, but my other, non-smart phone), I grabbed it and saw I had a text.  My neighbor was checking up on me to see how we were doing and if I knew my front tree had fallen over.  I opened up the front blinds and was shocked to see this 20 ft. tree lying on the ground.  Praise God it fell away from the house, as the only thing it killed were the weeds that are grass impersonators.  All I could do was think, "I need to take pictures and post them on Facebook so my husband can see this!"  Right as I was snapping a few pictures,  my neighbor next door walks by with a hand saw, ready to tackle this project.  He thought we were out of town and was going to get started with the clean up for us.  This is where my perception of Irene takes a huge turn.

Neighbor after neighbor came out and a spontaneous block party formed in our front yard.  One neighbor brought his chain saw and oldest son. My other neighbor, who helped fix our riding mower, came over, as well as our neighbor who is a doctor.  Two pick up trucks, 4 adults, 6 children, hand saws, chain saw, gloves and good old-fashioned elbow grease all aided in our tree-removal.  What I thought would be a small, slow-moving process, which would include me having to call the rental office 2-3 times over the next week to get that tree removed, turned out to be a lightning-speed recovery that took less than 3 hours. 

What started out as a path of destruction ended up bringing a community together.  Being in a season where I'm a single parent, I saw that tree as an obstacle in my marathon race.  I wasn't afraid when I saw it fall.  It could have fallen the other way and possibly destroyed part of our home.  So, I knew that God's hand was in how that tree fell towards the street.  What I saw was a community that embraced helping one another in a time of need.  What Satan set out to steal, kill and destroy, God intended for good.  That tree became a catalyst for the men of our community to come out and help another man's family when he couldn't do the work himself.  I love seeing how that obstacle became a baton.  Instead of having to hurdle over the challenge individually, I find that we're now in a place where the baton was handed from one neighbor to another.  It isn't a solitary race; it's a relay.  We are all in this together.  

Our tree-less landscaping reminds me of how God WILL provide us with what we need, when we need it most.

Road Trip Recap

This summer has truly passed before my eyes.  I blinked, it was May and Rob was about to deploy.  I blinked again, and we're in the middle of August.  I'm not complaining AT ALL, but seriously, where did that time go?  Well, it was spent with my two MMOGs and our little Lucy, in our amazing black Saturn.  The Saturn has logged many miles this summer and she's carried tough loads.  The time away and the diversion of our eyes from the empty table setting helped us to keep our focus on what we could use to fill our cup instead of what was missing.

We did two major excursions: Florida and Michigan.  Florida was our longer trip.  We stayed with family, did Disney, hung out with friends and ended up relaxing in the Florida heat.  Somehow, the time we spent in Florida passed more quickly than I could have ever imagined.  In my family growing up, our mantra was always, "Fish and company smell in 3 days."  So, I was a bit concerned that we were going to be staying 10 times that amount.  Was I nuts?!?!? Would we be dirty, rotten catfish, turned belly-up in the family gene pool?  Only God could have allowed my mom and dad to enjoy having their daughter, 2 grandsons and grandpuppy stay with them for that long and not want to give us the old drop kick.  The memories we created were truly priceless!  Disney for my dad's 65th birthday celebration, camping with friends at the beach, seeing the boys hang out with their BF's, watching my mom jump into her pool while fully clothed.... only a month spent with family can produce memories that make you want to laugh over and over and over again. Thirty days is way too long to record every memory. Coming home was a necessary evil, as I only had 2.5 weeks before we headed back out again!  This time, our journey, and Saturn, took us north.

Michigan, here we come!  August in the south is nothing less than miserable.  Occassionally, it's broken up by a random thunderstorm, which clears the air and restarts the humidity back down to 90%.  So, when we left at the end of July, I was thrilled to be heading north where the lowered humidity and temperature levels would ensure I could breathe without a 50lb rock sitting on my chest.  We went through a ton of activities that my boys haven't had the joy of experiencing.  Gabe discovered that his ears got "bubbles" when we drove through the mountains of VA and WV.  He didn't like that very much and was relieved when we FINALLY got into OH.  The joy lasted about 5 minutes when he discovered how interesting OH was (not).  When we got to my father in law's house, we wiggled our toes in the freshly-cut northern grass.  For those in the south, there is nothing like grass from the north.  It's free of sand, disease and is super soft to these girly feet.  Lucy thought she had died and gone to doggy heaven.  She just kept running around like she was a little puppy again.  We had arrived.

The first few days in MI were slower - playing catch-up with my BF from when I was 10, catching a Tiger's game and roasting marshmallows with family and friends.  The next 5 days went by in a blur.  We went to the "thumb" of MI - you know, hold your hand out and you're looking at the state of MI.  So, go to the tip of the thumb and we were there.  My sister-in-law and her family were staying at the family cottage up there and invited us up.  We ventured off to join aunt, uncle, 6 girls (3 cousins, 3 friends) and 1 wildly adorable puppy (Lucy was at a friend's "doggy spa).  It was a blast! Beach time, campfires, walks on the sandy beaches, climbing the rocks, the farmers market, Duggin's ice cream, cousins playing cards, jumping off the sand dunes, walking on the boardwalk, and lots of great food.  Seeing as we only get to visit with this side of the family once a year, we took full advantage of our short but sweet time together.  After leaving the cottage, the boys and I drove to IN to see my sister. Again, the time was a fast-forward button, but we couldn't have had better memories. Boys playing catch and video games, dogs howling and figuring out who's the boss, sisters talking non-stop, and everyone trying to make the clock stop altogether (except my brother in law, who likes our family mantra about fish). LOL, just kidding.  The day after we got back to MI, we celebrated Christian's 12th birthday and I had to pack everything up for our return to the "blast furnace".  Sadly, with the cooler morning temps hovering at 55*, we left the wonderful euphoria of vacation to head back to our home. 

So, is this recap just a way of summarizing a crazy couple of road trips? No, it's a way of looking back and seeing that God provided amazing friends and family to help fill our hearts and minds with tons of love and laughter this summer.  I'm such a family girl and my best friend, my husband, is currently overseas.  Knowing how much my heart aches to be with my hubby, God helped me to plan lots of diversions to keep my eyes focused on what we are blessed WITH rather than what we are going without.  God has given me so much.  Rob and I are two of the most blessed people on this earth - we have a Savior who loves us unconditionally; and we have friends and family who can't wait to create memories to help fill our memory bank.  So, now that we're home, all we have to do is remember a fun time we've had this summer and the boys and I get to relive it again, and again, and again.  Sometimes it's looking through the pictures or videos, or just saying a "buzz" word that triggers uncontrolled giggling that takes us right back to the moment it happened.

Deployments are challenging, but knowing I have a husband who supports my need for speed and two adventurous boys who love road trips, helps me to know that we will survive and do more than that.  We will thrive.

Coming this Fall: Eastcoast road trip: DC, PA.