Six Years Ago Today

Six years ago today, I woke up and turned on The Weather Channel.  I'd gone to bed feeling fairly certain I was going to stay put, although I was considering running away.  What I saw when I turned on TWC made me certain that staying put was not my best option.

What could make me so certain of the need to run for my life?  I saw Jim Cantorre standing on the beach in front of a pirate ship shaped casino in Gulfport, MS...about 5 miles from where I sat watching TV.

We had just moved to Biloxi, MS 2 months prior and had already survived 2 tropical storms and evacuated for a hurricane that ended up going to visit Florida instead.  But send Jim Cantorre somewhere and the storms will follow.

We had planned to run as a family and had been boarding up the house.  Then we got the call that I did not want to get - my DH was informed that his services would be needed on base in a shelter and he would not be allowed to evacuate.  The kids and I were welcome to remain in the shelter and we thought we just might do that but the shelters would be offices where people work - and I would be responsible for keeping a 3 1/2 and a 1 1/2 year old out of other people's stuff for who knows how long.  And I was a few weeks pregnant and feeling kind of crummy.  And we had 2 cats who would have no place to go. And Jim Cantorre was in my neighborhood so the storm would come.

So, the kids and I packed up faster than we've ever packed in our lives and in an hour or so from when the decision was made, we set out in an effort to out run the storm.  God was very much with us because from what I've heard, had we left only about 15 minutes later, we would have been caught in severe traffic and had terrible delays.

What started out to be a brief evacuation, ended up turning into a departure from Biloxi for the next 4 1/2  months, only to prepare to move away because of storm damage to the base hospital.  It also started out a period of time that did not change me for the better (at least in the interim) and that took me a long time to process and move forward from.

We were among the very lucky who did not lose our lives or our home, and yet I struggled greatly with what we had experienced.   Today, I don't know if I can honestly say I'm thankful for that time because I really loved what Biloxi was like pre-storm and I haven't really gotten to see it post-storm.  I enjoyed the friendships we were beginning to form and the church where we were settling in.

But I also know that I have grown through the trials and that I have learned (after much battling with myself over the feelings I had) that God is truly with me in the tough things.  I've learned more about struggles and standing strong in my faith because of this experience and things that were to come in the year that followed.  And so, for what I have learned, I am thankful.

But, if I'm really honest, I will say that some days, it's still hard to think back on that time.