If I had known this photo was going to be used three years later on a blog, I would have taken better care to set up the shot. But this is what I have to work with, and the story is the interesting thing anyway.
Pictured in this photo is all our worldly goods … all that we deemed important and essential for life when we evacuated for Hurricane Katrina … three pillows, one clothes basket filled with non-perishable foods, essential medicines, and a couple of my daughters favorite things, AND two suitcases stuffed with important documents, backup disks of our computer, and a few outfits for each of us, including work clothes and gloves because we knew we’d likely be using chain saws and doing a lot of yard and fence work after the storm. These are the things we hurriedly packed before we left our home, which would find itself in the eye of the storm, and headed 100 miles east to ride it out with my mom.
We had NO CLUE how life-changing that storm would be when we packed those few items, nor how attached we would be to that clothes basked filled with food and meds. We soon began to refer to it as our super-sized lunch box! It was really more like a portable pantry, and we kept it with us at all times for about three weeks, until our power was restored and we were receiving help from relief teams from around the world.
If you prayed for us, sent money, or came down and worked with a relief team during that season of recovery, I want to thank you on behalf of all of us. You can’t imagine how much we appreciated it or how humbled we were as we watched God working mightily during that recovery effort. He worked quiet miracles, and He also worked in a very public display of love, shown through the many, many hands that labored to help us get back on our feet. At some point, I started recording the moments I recognized His handiwork, and I was amazed that He was spending so much time with us. Then I realized that He was probably always that busy in our lives, we just hadn’t been looking for Him as eagerly.
Keeping it real,
I wrote this post in response to a friendly game of photo tag. My friend, Julie, from Pearls In a Nutshell, tagged me, and I dreaded the thought of what my qualifying photo MIGHT be, knowing there are several never-to-be-seen, bad-hair-day shots of me in those folders. Boy, was I relived when I opened that photo of our super-sized lunchbox!
I’m supposed to tag four friends, so here are the rules …
1.Open the 4th picture folder on your computer
2. Open the 4th picture in that folder and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture, and include a link back to the one who tagged you.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same!
… And here are my choices:
1. Drewe Llyn at Palms of His Hands
2. Brenda at Coffee Tea Books and Me
3. Mary at CanadaGirl Raising 4 Godly Men
4. Denise at Shortybear’s Place
Also, I am very pleased to list this post in the following blog carnivals …
- “GratiTuesday” @ Heavenly Home Maker
- “Thankful Thursday” @ Grace Alone
- “Show and Tell Friday” @ There’s No Place Like Home
- “Show and Tell Friday” @ Canadagirl
- And last, but not least, “Photo Story Friday”
Well, bless your heart, I know that had to be a stressful time. We went through Charley, and it was rough even tho we were a little south of the hardest hit area. But isn’t it amazing the way God brings people together during times like this? We see His love and the love of His people so much more clearly.
Asking God to sweetly bless your family.
Praising God for His provision and protection for your family!
Praising God that through it all you still saw His mighty hand to save you!
Praising God that through it all you came away stronger and more in love with Him than before!
Thanking God for your humble heart!
Blessings,
Jill
It’s reassuring to know that God is there for you in the midst of the storm. Have faith! God bless!
Katrina was a real Romans 8:28 kind of thing wasn’t it? Up here in our part of TX, we received people who had no home to go back to. The community turned the old empty WalMart into a shelter with showers and beds. I helped to sort donated clothes (there were tons of them). The churches in our town got together and organized the relief to make it more efficient. I was good to see some many people giving of themselves and their money to help others. I’m happy you came out of it ok.
I got a little giggle over one of the “essential” ingredients in your Life Pack. The Splenda! LOL
How thrilling that you could see the hand of God through such destruction. I wish for you a VERY happy Christmas! Thanks for sharing. Please come visit me.
What a story! – it’s amazing and wonderful how people can pull together to help others.
I very much enjoyed your real story! Often we have packed for evacuation, but so far haven’t had to go. Thank you, for sharing your blessings! May you continue to see them:)
That had to be a terrifying experience. Thanks for sharing. It puts small problems into perspective!
How exciting for me to receive a comment from the deep south. Thank you for telling your story. We heard so many sad stories resulting from Katrina and it is good to hear one first hand that had a positive outcome. I can’t imagine the fear and desperation so many of you must have felt. We praise God with you for His protection and care.
I’ll post your blog in my favourites and will enjoy reading about life in your area. What fun this blogging is! I just have to guard against spending too much time at it.
by the way – we’ve already had one blizzard that shut the main hwy down and it is now -10 Celcius with a howling bitter wind – something we don’t get often here in SW Britsh Columbia. It happens every couple of years and there is something kind of comforting in having to stay bundled up at home. BUt it is COLD! Have a wonderful Christmas.
What a neat story that came out of a random picture. You’ve got my curiosity up as to what my pic might be! Your story brought tears to my eyes.
Carol
Mine ended up being a picture of our Christmas tree. Boring!
Awesome…and so humbling…I’ve heard many stories about Katrina but seeing your essential items in the car made it so personal.
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment…you are always welcome!
P.S. Now, like Carol, I have to go see what my random pic is. “)
Wow what a amazing post ! I am so glad you all are safe and sound. I will do the tag hopefully in the next couple days. It looks like a FUN ! I went to see what pic it would be and I had to chuckle. Thanks for thinking of me !
Blessings and ((HUGS)) in Him<
-Mary
wow – what a post!
I must say I have often thought about what I would take if I had to quickly evacuate my home.
I am sure it is a giant wake up call about “what is real” and what matters.
thanks for stopping by.
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