Hurricane Irene....I'm sure I need say no more...my anxieties began last week as the storm reports associated with Ms. Irene began to worsen....words like Category 3, Category 4, flooding, tornadoes, etc...threatened to throw me into pure panic mode....Can I get a witness????
As I gazed out of our kitchen window on Friday morning, knowing that the storm was bearing down us, there was one tree in our backyard that was of particular concern for me....having gone through other notable hurricanes such as Bertha, Fran, Isabel and Ophelia....I had learned from experience that one lone tree standing off by itself in the midst of an impending storm can mean trouble for any homeowner when the winds start to blow....As the day wound on, I was encouraged by reports that the storm had weakened, but that tree just kept needling at my mind....so I started to pray...I asked God to give His mighty angels charge over all of the trees around our home...to help them to stand and if any did fall; to guide their fall away from our home......
By 6 AM Saturday, Ms. Irene and her winds were getting into full effect...I was the only one awake in our household, our power had finally gone out and as I stood in the window watching ( something you're never supposed to do...I know) the trees sway and bend in the wind; I found my eyes drifting back to that tree and reaffirming to myself what God and I had already discussed.....Many of our friends and family had also affirmed that they were praying for us, so I immediately felt peace in my spirit....
As the hours progressed and the winds grew stronger in the process, I woke my gang and called them all downstairs for safety's sake... At some point, I must've drifted back off to sleep, because the next thing I remember was opening my eyes to find everyone else sleeping as well.... before dozing back off, I looked out my window to see that "the tree" was leaning severely and beginning to pull away from the ground!!! Before I knew it, I was yelling "Oh no!!!! It's gonna fall; the tree's gonna fall!!!" At that instant, everyone jumped up from their slumber to check and see for themselves!!!
I immediately felt bad for scaring everyone half to death...so this time, instead of affirming my conversation with God silently, I affirmed it for everyone to hear!!! Things settled right then, but about 2 hours later my son started screaming..."The tree is falling; it's falling!!!!" Before I could get to the window, all I heard was a loud crash and thud.....
Once I got to the window, I saw that not only did the tree fall, but it had taken another tree along for the ride....Thankfully, by the grace of God, the trees had completely missed our house...BUT...."the tree" had not missed our neighbor's house.....again, I immediately felt bad...I started wondering and questioning if I had left something out of my prayers for safety...perhaps I had prayed too selfishly for our well-being and not enough for those around us....I knew that these were all lies from the enemy, but I felt bad nevertheless....we ran out in raincoats to try and assess the damage done to our neighbor's home...and to me, it looked terrible...you could see a spot where the roof had been crushed, not to mention, there was a long scratch running down the side of the house where one of the branches had dug in as it slid down the house....on a positive note, I did also notice that there was a window just to the left of where the branch had scratched the house....unbelievably, it was still in tact...needless to say, I quickly thanked God for that!!!
You see, I had only spoken with our neighbors on a couple of occasions as they had moved out of their house just as we were moving into ours...they were a nice older couple who were in the process of "downsizing...." by moving into a smaller home across town...
The storm finally passed and clean-up began. I stepped outside Sunday morning to lend my gang a hand and saw a car parked in our neighbor's driveway...I was more than a little trepidatious, but felt I should go and speak with them about the unwanted guest that was now lying against their house...as I strode up the driveway and approached the lady of the house, I knew I was in for a treat, when as I apologized for the damage done to her home by our tree; she simply remarked..."Better the tree hit our house and do minor damage than hit your house and cause major damage....." I was immediately humbled and blessed by her grace and kindness....little did I know that it was only about to get better....we stood in her rose garden for the better part of an hour as she shared with me all of God's faithfulness to her through the storms of her life...she shared how God had faithfully seen her through all of the sadness, disappointment and anger she had felt struggling and battling through years of infertility....amazingly, she proudly recounted that although God had not given she and her husband children of their own, He had graciously allowed them many "children of the heart" (as she called them)....she then shared how God had miraculously spared her life in what should have been a fatal car accident....she commented that her face had needed to be reconstructed and she looked nothing like she had before the accident, but then turned right around and praised Him with great joy that she could speak and eat on her own, because the physicians who treated her said she never would!!!
Lastly, she shared with me what she called "The Beauty of the Roses..." She lovingly looked around her rose garden, and told me of how the young man who had planted them for her had once been married to a family member of hers...she expressed sadness that their marriage had ended, and was transparent as she remarked about how she had struggled with strong emotions against the young man for his behavior during the divorce...but then she said... "You know, I asked God to love him through me...and as soon as I did...He brought to my mind the beauty of the roses..." she went on to say that every time she felt inclined to be angry with him, she would remember his kindness shown her in planting that rose garden and God would ease her anger and lend her compassion toward him....
Perhaps most lovely to me in she and I's "Divine Appointment" was when she told me of how God had allowed "the roses" to be her "open door" to share the Gospel; the Truth of Jesus with the young man...she told him how when she thought of the roses that he had planted; she thought of 3 people, him.... for his kindness in planting them, herself...cause they meant so much to her, and Jesus...for the thorns that He wore on His brow and the "red" of the roses that matched the blood which He had shed for us...she told him that she wished that he would remember that just as Jesus had given her hope and peace in the trials of her life; that He would do the very same for him if he would only ask Him by acknowledging Him as his Savior....
Unfortunately, the young man did not receive Jesus that day, but she was confident (as am I ) that the seed had been planted in his heart, and that God would do any watering and growing of that seed that needed to be done...
I, in turn, quickly shared with her how I was stepping out in faith and obedience by trusting God in a new ministry journey. I shared how I'd been feeling a tad down lately, but had been reminded because of her words, that God can absolutely be trusted with everything....
As I stood there with tears in my eyes, my neighbor and I laughed as we both commented on how convinced we were that there was a reason God had allowed "the tree" to fall the direction it had....I only hope now that I adequately expressed to her how very, very much my heart had been blessed by her taking the time to share how God had proven so faithful to her over the years....it seemed only fitting that she would be speaking words of such triumph and faith despite having been through so much pain and disappointment...the fact that a literal storm had brought she and I together in the first place; only added more poignancy to her testimony....
As we embraced and promised to keep in touch, she extended me an open invitation (until their house sells anyway) to go over in her rose garden and pick as many roses as I'd like....I thanked her and assured her that I would...
Let me just say that I have more than a few rose bushes of my own growing around my house and although they're beautiful and I greatly enjoy them, this one thing I know for certain.....every time, from this point on, that I look over next door...I'll remember how faithful our God is....I'll remember the beauty of my neighbor's roses....but most of all, I'll always remember the truth that there truly is a blessing in every storm......
* Although I am most grateful to God that our encounter with Hurricane Irene ended as it has, it is not lost upon me that many did not fair as well. My prayers for God's peace and comfort continue with those along the east coast who lost loved ones and possessions through the devastation of that storm...*
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