The Day After Irene

One thing about the aftermath of a hurricane is how quiet it is once it's over. It's kind of like being outside when it snows, and there is hardly anybody out on the roads and all you hear is stillness. That's how it felt like when we woke up early to go for a walk the day after Irene hit. We felt as if we were the only ones venturing out.

I have to admit that even though I was raised in South Texas (a.k.a. hurricane territory), I was a little nervous about a hurricane heading our way towards the Jersey shore. I began preparing on Thursday. In case of a power outage I didn't buy a lot of frozen foods. I managed to buy the necessities and called friends and family to let them know what we were doing to prepare. I was exhausted by the end of the day on Friday! I really didn't want to stress over Irene. To tell you the truth...I was anxious for her to hurry up, come our way and just quickly pass us by.

The girls seemed to be more intrigued than worried over the hurricane coming. They had never been through one and were curious as to what was to be expected. My husband reassured me that everything would be fine and that the Lord will take care of us. Jon's words were true and we had no damage. We had a little bit of flooding in the basement, but that's to be expected. Luckily we thought in advance and grabbed the important things from the basement, and took them upstairs. 

Church was cancelled on Sunday, but we still kept the Lord in mind. The kids and I decided to go out for a walk in the woods and enjoy the nice, cool air. We were talking about gratitude and how happy we were to still have plumbing! The girls also said that it's a good thing that playing the piano and violin does not require electricity. So true!

There was no major damage in our area. Mostly just power outages. We all enjoyed the outdoors and observing at what mother nature can do. Some of the lakes were like raging waters. It was actually pretty cool to see.

For those 18 hours without power we didn't miss the internet (I obviously didn't blog), or the television. Of course we had our cell phones and I only posted once on Facebook to let everyone know we were alive and well. Instead of complaining of being without-we were giving thanks to what we had. We truly are thankful that we were together as a family, and to just be alive!
                         
We thank everyone for your worldwide prayers that were said for us here on the east coast. I told most of  my friends and neighbors that it could have been a lot worse...a lot worse. Believe me, I would know!

XOXO