I went to bed with a heavy heart last night. The word ‘heavy’ sounds too light in writing. I can not describe in words how I am truly feeling at this very moment. It is normal to feel angry, sad, frustrated, and anxious when watching the news these days. What is happening in Texas has me on my knees. It was a little over a year ago when I too was standing face to face with the fear of what was to come as I watched the water come closer and closer to our home. It crept up on us as if it were a predator, and we were its prey. Then it pounced.
It changed my life forever.
My life has forever been changed by that one natural disaster. I have yet to think about what happened last August without tearing up or feeling a tug on my heart. I have yet to see a Tropical Storm / Flash Flood warning pop up on my phone or on the Weather Channel and not feel a little anxious. I have yet to go through my things to realize I am missing one thing to another from the flood waters. My kids have yet to not worry about if it is going to flood again when the sky appears way too dark. What I have learned is that there are blessings to be seen in all the sadness, anger, and anxiousness. There is light amongst all the darkness.
Then there were blessings.
There were blessings right after the flood. The pouring in of love from family, friends and complete strangers is something I cannot be thankful enough for. We were able to get through the rising waters and come out stronger than ever before. We now have a true glimpse of what is the most important things in our life, family and friends. Material things have no place when it comes to having the ones you love.
For the love of Houston.
For all those in Houston, my heart breaks for you. I feel as if you are my long lost family member, and I wish to take this pain and fear from you. As dark as the time appears right now, I promise there is light that will shine through. I promise that you will come through this a stronger person than you ever thought you would. Will it be easy to overcome and forget about? I would love to say tell you yes, but this road will not be easily traveled. There will be curves, craters and even dead ends. You will feel as if the world is crumbling beneath you and even on top of you at times. This will be a time of your life that will be permanently engraved into your heart, but there will be good amongst the chaos. All will be right in the world again, and you will have a hold of your life again. You can get through it, and we are all here to help. This is a promise!
How can you help?
I can not stop thinking about the catastrophic flooding and all the pain and destruction it is bringing to Texas. If you are like me, you are sitting there wishing you could run over there and help. How can you help when you are not even there? There are many ways you can help from where you are, and I have listed a few below.
American Red Cross: To donate visit redcross.org, call 1- 800-RED CROSS or text the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation. You can also donate blood.
The Salvation Army: To donate visit givesalvationarmy.org or call 1-800-725-2769.
Local Churches: I know of a few churches who are accepting donations. You can talk with any of the local churches to see how you can help. Here are 2 church organizations you can bring donations:
Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge-10560 Airline Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70816
Christ’s Community Church-26574 Juban Rd, Denham Springs, LA 70726
Set up your own collection bank: If you can not contribute by donating money or want to help in other ways, set up a donation bank yourself! My 6-year-old daughter has insisted on collecting items from our neighborhood. We will be making flyers and collecting items needed for toiletries/cleaning (hand sanitizer, toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, towels, bedding, and tooth brushes) as well as non-perishable food items (granola bars, cereal bars, pop tarts, any type of individual wrapped snacks, bottled waters and sports drinks). Once we have collected all that we can, we will be dropping the items off at our local church so that it can get to the right place for delivery.
Be on the look out for ways your community is trying to help. There are many more organizations who are reaching out to help Texas in this catastrophic time.
We are here for you Texas. We love you and are praying hard!
The testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:3
