Have you ever wondered whether some good fortune you have had is due to the grace of God or just pure luck? After a terrifying night of listening to the howling winds of Hurricane Hermine around my house, I don’t think I will ever think that luck has anything to do with anything….
We were as prepared as we could be. We had taken down trees close to our house months before the storm as a precautionary measure. Our next door neighbor had done the same. We had provisions and we figured there would be power outages. Huricane Hermine was strengthening and we knew were in the cross hairs here in Tallahassee.
Around 10 p.m., the wind really began to howl. We lost power then got it back and then lost it for good around 11 p.m. We hunkered down in the office on a futon, because it was the farthest away from the obvious trees. Inside wall and a hallway we could jump in if it got really bad. We have lots of windows and sliding glass doors.
I couldn’t sleep. My husband was trying, but I was talking to get my mind off the wind and rain. Howling is putting it mildly. I had experienced Hurricane Kate here in 1985 and many hurricanes growing up in Ft. Lauderdale. During Kate my daughter and I slept on the floor in the hallway. Having a weather radio both then and Thursday night was a blessing. It was terrifying.
Around 1:30 a.m., we heard a crash and a thump so loud the house shook. Clutching my husband, I wondered if we had a hole in the roof, but we did not hear rain coming in or other noises indicating the roof had a hole in it.
I started praying the 23 rd Psalm to myself. “The Lord is my shepherd…” Eventually I fell asleep.
In the morning, I got up and looked out back. Right there in the middle of the back yard was a giant pine tree that had fallen from out of our neighbors yard, crushed our chain link fence and our deck railing, hit and bent the gutter, but did not touch our roof. It was a miracle, pure and simple. The pine branches were brushing the house.
The tree in my neighbor’s yard, far away from our yard, so we never suspected it could fall like it did. The trunk bent and cracked, before it fell. If the whole tree with roots had come out of the ground, it would have hit our house.
Do I think it was pure luck? No. Not a chance.
We were saved by the grace of God. The unmerited favor of the Holy One. And we are so very, very, grateful.
Thank you, Lord!
Have you ever experienced the grace of God? Please share in the comments section below. I would love to hear about it.
Contact me for life and wellness coaching if you are feeling stuck with your health or life in general…….
Blessings…..
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.