As I sit here on my back patio, enjoying a beautiful day with a comfortable fall breeze, my heart feels conflicted. All is well in my world. My home is secure, my family is safe, my health is good, and my wi-fi signal is strong. I am listening to my dog running back and forth along the fence line, barking excitedly because our neighbor’s dog is doing the same thing on the other side. There is an overwhelming sense of normalcy. Yet only a hundred miles away from me in every direction, peoples’ lives have been completely changed forever due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton; communities are devastated, infrastructure wiped out, homes washed away, and basic needs out of reach. Schools, businesses, houses of worship, medical facilities, and precious human lives were here one moment, and literally gone the next.
This weekend was a lovely and busy one for my family. It consisted of Friday night lights for our youngest with a big win for her high school, a date night at a hip pizza place for my husband and I, a visit with our oldest daughter’s family, a quick trip to the park with our grandson, grocery shopping, laundry, church, and taking three teenagers to the South Carolina State Fair. It was a wonderful weekend by all accounts, yet simultaneously disconcerting to know that while we were riding the Ferris wheel and looking at ourselves in fun house mirrors, only an hour or so away people were sifting through debris, mucking thick, stinky mud out of their homes, wading through knee-high stagnant water, suffering through power outages, and wondering if they would be able to find enough resources to sustain their families for physical survival. We were literally in alternate realities.
My heart goes out to all those affected by these horrific storms. My husband and I, like many of you, are trying to help with disaster efforts from a far but it feels insignificant. I pray that all who were in the path of the storm will feel love from their neighbors around the country and will receive the help they need to move forward. I pray that one day they too, will be able to sit on their porches once again, listen to their dogs barking playfully, and feel calming breezes on their faces without a care in the world.
These hurricanes have been a powerful reminder that life can change in the blink of an eye. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fire, cancer diagnoses, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, severed relationships, serious injuries, mental health crises, etc all can (and do) happen in a flash. There is no immunity idol that can be played to spare us from impending tragedies.
Our sermon at church this week was about opening your eyes. Just open your eyes and see who might need help or where you might make a difference. See the mother with a tired toddler in the grocery store who needs an extra hand, see the elderly person struggling to lift something heavy into their car in the parking lot, see the neighbor in need of a kind word, see the stranger standing hungry on the street corner, see the cashier needing some grace because her register isn’t working properly, see the local collection point and actually follow through with donating supplies for Hurricane survivors, see the volunteer opportunity and dive in passionately, and on and on and on. You never know when you will be the person in need of being seen.
This week, and hopefully every week after, I am going to challenge myself to open my eyes and actively look for ways to help others and to show love. I encourage you to do the same.
My plan for next week is for my blog to be back to normal, God willing, filled with lighthearted anecdotes about the funny things in life, but this week I felt it was important to acknowledge life isn’t always easy and to pay tribute to all those who are dealing with unimaginable life-changing situations.
Tell me about the things you see around you and ways we can make a difference in the comments below!
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