The eye of the storm

I’ve lived in Florida for 21 years, and seen my share of storms. We’ve had a few brushes with hurricanes, but for the most part we’ve been hurricane-free.  Then, a little over a week ago, Tropical Storm Beryl blew into town. I was so unconcerned by the light winds and rain, that I went to bed and slept through the large limb that fell fifty feet, knocked out our power and fried our cable line.         

When my husband woke me to let me know what was going on, I came into the living room, spoke by phone with my neighbors (who were also affected by the limb), lit a few candles, and marveled at the calm that soon followed. We were in the eye of the storm. It was a rather eerie thing to know half the storm had blown through, and the other half was on its way, yet at this moment, everything was still.

Though the back side of the storm wasn’t as bad as we envisioned, that one limb did cause a few problems. Not only was our power knocked out, the wire had been pulled from the meter box. My neighbors had surges all night, and lost their phones, printer, microwave, and the fan on their refrigerator. And because we were the only two homes affected by the downed lines, we were considered a low priority.  

It took two and a half days, and the help of a councilman (he stopped by unannounced) to get our power restored. It’s a temporary fix, as we still need a new line, but until the electrician we had to hire to do the repairs is available, I’ll take it. Our cable line was replaced after four days. All in all, a relatively speedy recovery; now, if only the yard waste guys would get here and pick up said limb. They are currently three days late.

This was the first time we used the generator we purchased roughly five years ago. Not only were we able to keep the refrigerator and freezer running, we had fans and one TV to watch—local stations only, but no complaints here.

Doing without the internet and cable TV was actually a good thing. I got a lot of reading done, and spent more quality time with my daughter and husband. I understood that being in the eye of the storm, meant trouble would likely follow, but isn’t that the way life is in general? We have wonderful, quiet moments, then it would seem everything goes wrong. Fortunately, the bad times also come to an end. Not always (if ever) at the speed we would like, but God knows how much we can take, and what’s needed of us to grow through whatever He’s trying to teach us.

Preparation is the key. Without the generator, we would have lost all the food in our refrigerator and freezer, been in the dark, and done a whole lot more sweating. Storms come in many forms. Are you prayed up? Is your relationship with God where it should be? Don’t slack up when things are going well. The eye is temporary, and the backside of the storm is on its way.