Hurricane

This entry has been a year in the making. It took a lot more than I thought it would to be ready to write this. Also, it's really long. Sorry!!

August 29, 2012

        The word “hurricane” is defined several ways. There is the expected scientific answer: “a violent, tropical, cyclonic storm of the western North Atlantic, having wind speeds of or in excess of 72 miles per hour” and the definition in layman’s terms: “a storm of the most intensive severity”. But there are also alternate definitions: “anything suggesting a violent storm” and “anything acting like such a wind.” The last two are my favorite. I like the reference to a violent storm because it is so applicable to life. Life is not always calm waters; sometimes we get caught in the storms of life just like we can get caught in physical storms. I also found myself captivated by “anything acting like such a wind.” It refers to a strong wind, a force you cannot see, but can feel powerfully, that moves and changes things in its path.

        All eyes this week have been turned to news and weather stations as we watch a tropical storm gather and become a hurricane. As expected, the news stations also run stories on past hurricanes to remind us of what has happened and what is possible. Throughout history, there have been several famous tornadoes, all given human names. If you say “Andrew” or “Katrina” or “Isaac” (this week at least – time will tell), images and memories are instantly conjured of homes without roofs, devastation to buildings and land, water-covered cities, and people being helicoptered out of flooded areas. You see the evidence of the storm, of the wind and rain. You remember what it caused. You can add “Irene” to that list of memory-joggers. Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast of the US in 2011, a year and a week ago. It was terrible, though not quite as destructive as Andrew and Katrina. Irene caused a lot of damage to a long stretch of coast, and is regarded as the fifth-costliest hurricane to hit the US.

        I don’t remember much about the damage Hurricane Irene caused. When I think back to that week, I have much different memories. Hurricane Irene had begun to wreak havoc through the Caribbean, but on August 23, 2011 she began to weaken. It was temporary, though, and on August 24, the storm strengthened and headed for the US. That’s about all I remember, because on August 24, 2011, I got a phone call telling me that another powerful force, my grandmother Irene Cannon, had left this earth and gone to be with God. Listening to the radio was hard that week, as the weather and news people reported on Irene’s whereabouts and work, and as they cautioned people to take shelter. My family all headed to a shelter of sorts as well – my grandmother’s house in West Virginia, to grieve with the rest of the family and say good-bye. I remember thinking I was handling it all ok, and was driving home from church or work on that Wednesday or Thursday, and then out of nowhere, the radio breaks in to report on the storm. The announcer said something (I don’t remember what) about Irene and what was happening. At the sound of my grandmother’s name, I just lost it. It is a good thing I was almost home because I started bawling as I drove in the pouring rain. I remember thinking how cruel it was that we had constant reminders of Nana every time we turned on the tv or radio that week. But then I got to thinking, and realized something. My grandmother was rather like a hurricane in her own right. She was a strong force, that often you didn’t see, but you always felt, who changed the things and people in her path. She moved quickly (though not physically) and changed path as she felt like it. She, like her stormy namesake, made a marked difference on a wide area, and left many people stunned when she was gone.

        As we traveled up to Grant Town, WV from Nashville, we traveled alongside trucks and workers headed to assist in the clean-up. We remarked how strange it was that we were headed toward the storm instead of staying in our safe little land-locked southern state. Once we arrived, we saw a similar pack of workers who swept in to assist with the after-math of our own private hurricane. People whose names I don’t remember or maybe never knew prepared meals, cleaned up, and forced my aunt to eat. People who came to check on us and make sure we had what we needed. It was our own little emergency response agency. They were there because they too had been touched by Irene (Nana) and missed her presence as well, and all they knew to do was make sure we all were ok.

        We lived a version of Hurricane Irene personally last year. And now as the country watches Hurricane Isaac, I sit on the sidelines as people I mostly don’t know live in the middle of a similar storm. A very godly woman who I never met went home to the Lord yesterday. I was privileged to hear about her testimony from others and to read her and her sister’s (I think!) blog entries about God’s faithfulness and their commitment to praise Him in the face of a horrifying cancer diagnosis and fight. I read yesterday that Sara didn’t want people to say she had “lost her battle with cancer” but rather she had won her battle, and now lived with her Savior. I thought that was so beautiful. I have also been encouraged by all the Facebook and blog posts about how this young wife and mother inspired people to be more godly, loving Christians, and to “savor the day.” I found it interesting that Isaac achieved hurricane status the same day Sara received the greatest reward we can hope for – the beginning of eternity with God.

 I read in a blog/journal post that it was not coincidence that Sara left this earth on 8-28, and that her nephew was memorizing Romans 8:28 this month. I agree, and for the most part, I don’t believe in coincidence. I think that when things look almost like they were designed that way, they actually were, not by human hands, but by the Creator himself. God knows how our brains work, and He knows what will get our attention. I believe wholeheartedly that He “works all things together for good” and that He has a perfect plan. I do not think it was coincidence that I read that first blog post from Sara that someone had shared on Facebook months ago. I don’t think it was a coincidence that I read her sister’s post mentioning the 8-28 thing right after I read a weather report on Isaac. I don’t think it is a coincidence that there is another hurricane with an “I” name almost exactly a year after Irene, which shared my grandmother’s name.

God knows what He is doing, even when we don’t have a clue. He has a plan, and He will take care of us. All we have to do is love and trust Him. He will send the people and events into our lives that we need just at the right moment.  He already sent Jesus, His own son, at just the right moment to save us all for eternity. Who could ask for more than that?