We are 9 days post Hurricane Harvey hitting Houston. Most of us have experienced moments of shock,
moments of great motivation to participate in recovery, and other moments of
profound sadness. What has helped me
move forward, when my heart wants to get caught up in the devastation, is to
reflect on the moments that I have seen God move before and after this
storm. My husband calls them manna. We might just label them “manna moments”
here.
I would love to record some of those stories so you can find
your own encouragement in how God demonstrates His love for us.
Here are the first ones:
Manna Moment- Preparing us for Harvey
Did you know that Trent took his first ever sabbatical this
summer? It lasted 4 weeks and ended the week before Harvey hit. I believe God knew that we would need to be
well rested going into this recovery phase.
Some might call that coincidence but then what about the fact that our
youth minister, who was filling in for Trent, taught those 4 weeks on loving
your neighbor. Was that preparation of
our church for response also a coincidence?
Nope.
Here is another way God prepared us and it requires a little
backstory. When Maggie had her strokes 3
years ago, I wrote a book and titled it, Conquering Mountains. At the time I felt like it was just a place
for me to process all that God taught me. So instead of self-publishing it, I just
stored it away on my computer. I
honestly did not think about it again until about a month ago when I felt like
God was telling me that it was time to pull it back out and reconsider
publishing. I re-read the entire book
and recounted God faithfulness as I made a few changes. I wrote the last sentence as Harvey was preparing
to make landfall on Saturday, August 26th. On Sunday, August 27th we woke up
to find our entire city flooded. On
Monday, August 28th , as the water was still rising around us, a
reminder popped up on my newsfeed. It
was the 3 year anniversary of the day we brought Maggie home from the
hospital. God was reminding me of his
faithfulness with Maggie’s mountain so he could lovingly prepare me for Mt. Harvey.
I believe that the God who so lovingly prepared us for this
storm is still present to lovingly guide us through the recovery. I can’t wait to see how He moves and I look
forward to sharing those stories with you here.
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