“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.” NIV Job 14:7
In 2005, we lived in Southwest Louisiana. It was the worst hurricane season on record for our region. The beginning of September, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Mississippi, Alabama Gulf Coast, it was devastating for that side of our state. On the heels of Katrina two weeks later, a hurricane formed in the Gulf that most forecasters said would not affect our area, but through a small shift to the left it tracked up the Sabine Pass and came hitting land as a Category 5 but quickly downgraded to a Cat 3…not much difference to tell the truth.
My elderly parents along with our nephew, would not evacuate for more than 50 miles away from their home, which was close to the coast. We really did not think the storm would turn out to be as bad as it was. My husband who was a lineman for an electric cooperative 56 miles from our home along with my parents, we decided to “hunker down” and ride it out. Now “riding it out” as we say in the swamp means that you cover your windows, stow everything that might be a flying object, cook tons of food, especially gumbo, have kerosene and batteries on hand with a gas or a camp stove of some sort, and fill your bathtubs with water and have plenty of coffee…that’s the drill! We grew up preparing for the storms all of lives. Oh and by the way, our home was two single wide mobile homes connected with a small building in between, that we sophisticatedly called the “Foyer”. Not smart, not wise, but it was our port in the storm.
During the night. 6 hours, hours previously our power went out. The winds started howling and grew louder and lightning with thunder bellowing constantly. As my Momma, my nephew, Josh and I sat in the hallway with blankets over our heads, my Daddy and husband slept in the recliners throughout the night. Each time a gust would come through you could literally see the walls of the trailer breathing like person’s chest. In all of my life, in all of the hurricanes I have lived through and even served in the Civil Air Patrol as Civil Defense, I have never been that scared.
During the night, as my Momma and I were singing “Master of the Wind” Lord gave me peace and I could feel His presence. In my mind’s eye, I could see His Hands holding those trailers together as the dark night and the winds sought to destroy them and us inside. When the dawn came and we looked outside, it looked like the Lord Himself walked in a circle around our home. Not one window was broken, no water inside the houses, no damage to our home. The pine trees stood tall with limbs ripped off, but the trees with shallow roots, like our sycamore trees were either uprooted or bent over. One sycamore tree in particular (a very old tree) looked like someone just pushed it over. The roots were exposed, but as we waited for it to die, in the weeks ahead, we started to see new growth. The branches were growing straight up from the side that was closest to the sun. It is still there today and you cannot tell it was one tree unless you look closely.
I have always loved that picture of the bent tree. It reminds me of us as the storms of life come crashing through. Sometimes what we think is going to be an insignificant little thunderstorm turns out to be a spiritual hurricane. God doesn’t take the storm away but in bending us in the storm. He can use us to sprout out even more shoots, and give us opportunities to glorify Him. So no matter what storm your facing today, just remember that there is always “hope for the tree”!
Jackie Gillespie