Tag Archives: Hurricane Sandy

Resilience

By Ordinary Servant | Published November 4, 2012

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
II Timothy 2:3

Courtesy of Creative Commons

I have been thinking a lot about the word, resilience. Merriam-Webster defines resilience this way:

An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

This week and in the days ahead, the people of New York and New Jersey will continue to endure hardship and be resilient.

The extent of damage from Hurricane Sandy is apocalyptic.

We (my family) were fortunate, even so, we are feeling the after effects. We are not able to purchase gas. The lines to get gas remind me of the 70’s when there was a shortage.

I must have been about eight or nine years old. I remember it was the summer.

One hot and humid day, I decided to be industrious and drag a cooler filled with cold sodas and water in a red wheelbarrow to the nearest gas station. There was a long line of cars waiting for gas.

At that time, there wasn’t air conditioning in the cars, so I was able to sell all the water and soda quickly.

My entrepreneur, restaurant owner and chef father was proud of me. He was bragging about what I did to all of his customers.

These long lines remind me of back then, only this time, it’s not hot out.

I do not think the gas situation will be resolved quickly. Another factor which is now being  introduced is a shortage of oil.

So not only are we experiencing a shortage of gas, but we will also be experiencing a shortage of oil.

The apartment complex where I live runs on oil. So this will be interesting.

Every time I feel overwhelmed or begin to worry, I remind myself of how we were spared. Right now, there are countless people who lost their homes or who still don’t have any power or worse, a mother who lost both her children.

It is cold out. There are families with little children who are freezing. Those who don’t have family to stay with or the means to stay in a motel or even get around. I can’t deny feeling blessed and grateful despite the weight of anxiety and sadness I feel.

A good friend of mine told me to blog about what is happening. I actually hesitated to write about it, but perhaps she is right. Maybe I do need to write about what is happening here in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

For those of you who reached out and are praying, on behalf of my family and I, we want to say thank you. May the Lord bless you for caring and for your heart of compassion during this difficult time.

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Rainbows in the Midst…

By Ordinary Servant | Published October 31, 2012

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

I woke up with this scripture on my mind. I thought it apropos given the aftermath of the Allume Conference and Hurricane Sandy.

Courtesy of Kurt Wilberding

It was a blessing to be able to attend the Allume Conference and finally meet Tricia Goyer (who is an absolute sweetheart), Mary DeMuth, Sarah Markley, Sarah Mae, Jessica Heights, Christin Slade, Kelly Thorne Gore, Rachel Wojnarowski, Christy Stroud from Tyndale Publishers, Revell Publishers, Zondervan Publishers and so many other wonderful people.

We drove three hours to get to Pennsylvania, checked in and headed over to register. I was given a beautiful bag filled with goodies.

It was my first time attending this conference, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was definitely excited with the line up.

Darren Rowse (a.k.a. ProBlogger) and Ann Voskamp were on the top of my list. I never heard either one of them speak before.

I was really touched by what Darren Rowse shared at his key note. He didn’t speak about how to make money with your blog, but more about his testimony and faith.

I enjoyed listening to Sarah Mae and Jessica Heights key notes as well. I love their hearts.

My hat goes off to Sarah, Jessica and their entire team for all their hard work and pulling off such an amazing conference. It truly was a success.

After awhile, it began to feel more like a Christian woman’s conference than a blogger’s conference which was refreshing.

My favorite place was the Prayer Room which was sponsored by The Seed Company.

Courtesy of Laura Gish

Isn’t the prayer room beautiful? I spent my free time there to unplug, pray and write in prayer journals. The Seed Company blessed us royally.

The highlight of this conference for me was hearing Ann Voskamp speak for the first time. I never read Ann Voskamp’s blog or her best selling book, One Thousand Gifts. I only heard wonderful things about her through the grapevine. Now I know what they were all talking about.

Prior to her keynote, there were two videos shown by (In)Courage and Compassion International which moved me. I love to support causes helping disadvantaged children and Compassion International does amazing work.

After the videos, Ann Voskamp began to speak and tears rolled down my face. What she spoke about pierced my heart. I was riveted and touched by her every word. What an anointed woman of God. I pray I could get a copy of her key note, because I want to hear it again. I felt God used her to confirm what He was speaking to my heart throughout the conference.

Unfortunately, I had to abruptly leave right after she spoke due to Hurricane Sandy. We left and drove home to prepare for the impending storm. I do not believe I have to reiterate how devastating this hurricane was to our city. It was truly unprecedented. Please keep us in your prayers.

I am grateful the Lord is still in control and on the throne. Despite the devastation, I chose to see rainbows in the midst of the storm. I continue to pray for all those who were affected.

Please let me know how I can pray for you today. Please leave your prayers in the comment section below.

 

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