The Storm
For all of my fellow Gulf Coast residents, it’s been a week hasn’t it? It’s only the beginning of July and we were already hit with a hurricane this early in the season. I pray that your situation is getting better each day, and that hope is being seen in the middle of the clean up and power outages.
My girls and I stayed home and did not evacuate with the livestock to my aunts house up the country. I am very thankful their sweet little faces slept through the horrid sounding wind and rain that came through our small town.
As I mustered strength to push through my exhaustion to wake up, I went through each room peering through the windows to check on the storm’s status. I was also looking for potential damage and if I could see our livestock from the back door windows.
I made my way to the garage and saw that my two garage doors had busted away from the frame. I set my flashlight down and with further inspection noticed the actual garage door frames had separated from the house! Without much thought, I pushed with all my might to lean into the frames to try and bend them back to at least a close original proximity.
Copyright - Jamie Zenteno 2024
After two failed attempts, my spirit quicken as I am sure the Lord was getting a good laugh from me….I thought Jamie what are you doing? I laughed and said to myself, “You are literally pushing against hurricane force winds of over 90 MPH, stop. Go back inside, lay back down next to the girls and just wait for the storm to be over.”
As you can imagine, I’m laughing at myself now three days later. What was I thinking? Truth was, I wasn’t. I was trying to fix something that was out of my control and ultimately out of my strength and capacity to mend.
I was nervous and anxious. This wasn’t my first rodeo y’all with a hurricane. Like many of you, Hurricane Harvey gave me a little PTSD I suppose.
The failed attempts to push back my garage doors were a humble reminder that we have to wait for the storms to pass. It is within our waiting, that we absolutely can find the comfort and peace we need, even in the midst of a hurricane.
The author pens it well in this scripture, “Be merciful to me for my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge until these calamities have passed by.” Psalms 57:1
I crawled back into bed and within a few hours the storm had passed and the sun began to shine through once more. The Lord will give me what I need to get the garage fixed, just as He will give you the resources for your repairs also.
I pray that you have power restored soon and you are still able to see the blessings of the Lord around you. Even if they are a mere glimmer or difficult to see.
-Jamie
