Every single day of the last week we, Nova Scotians, listened to multiple warnings and updates concerning Hurricane Earl - along with suggestions and reminders on how to best prepare for hurricanes (Earl or otherwise).
A bit of history for you:
On September 28, 2003, Hurricane Juan hit Halifax and much, much more of Nova Scotia. It went Right... Through... Us.
And we remember it. Some after effects are still visible.
Before Juan was part of our province’s history, Nova Scotians had nothing to draw on as far as up close and personal experience with hurricanes. We had nothing to measure the word “hurricane” up against.
Sadly, knowing the dictionary definition nor viewing pictures of hurricane destruction from other parts of the world did not do for us what personal experience did.
It's not like we had not been warned about the inevitable arrival of Juan. We had been. And we had been told to prepare for strong, dangerous winds and high, dangerous waves. Prepare by bringing outside furniture in, prepare any watercraft you may own, prepare for power loss by having candles/matches/propane/batteries/flashlights on hand, plan to stay off highways during the storm, and by all means stay away from and out of coastal waters.
Some folks heeded the warnings, and some didn’t.
Why is that?
Why do we believe warnings are for “them”?
Let’s flash forward to September 2010. This, my friends, is where personal experience comes in to play. See, in 2003 we did not predict well enough nor did we play scenarios through far enough to understand what having no power would actually, completely, fully mean - even for those of us who prepared like we were encouraged to, we were not fully prepared.
No power meant no ATM machines. And no ATM machines meant no $$. Which translated into no groceries, and/or no gas. No power also meant no washer or dryer… for many days. No water meant NO WATER - none for drinking, for showering, for flushing toilets, none for NOthing.
Soooooooo, after a week of warnings and reminders (from news anchors as well as my sister), AND after the personal experience with Juan, I decided that in preparation for our roaring visitor, Earl, I would:
bring the outside furniture in
locate my lighter/candles and flashlight/batteries
fill up my gas tank
have cash on hand
grocery shop before hand (and, grrrrrrrrrrrr, even pay for drinking water)
recharge phone batteries
get caught up on the laundry pile
cancell at least PART of my long weekend plans... grrrrrrrrrrrrr again.
This time round I would heed the warnings, and then some.
It all made me wonder this:
Why don't we (you and I) heed God’s warnings in our lives? I mean, when He shows us “pictures” of destruction from previous life storms, why don’t we (you and I) pay attention? Why do we (you and I) believe the warnings must be for "them?
Yet, He loves us (you and I).
Amazing.
I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father is forgiving. That cannot be said for hurricane's. Thank you Jesus!!
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