It’s been a year since Superstorm Sandy changed the shores of my city but so much more has changed; I have changed, my faith has changed and grown deeper, and my understanding of God’s mercy has increased. There’s been so much to process that I’ve struggled all year trying to get these words down for you.
So here it is, my story and my perspective and how this experience landed me on Joyce Meyer’s TV show
Life lesson #1 – Don’t panic when your game plan changes.
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
Days before the storm hit I was traveling with my husband to PA for Allume. Allume is a conference designed to bring Christian writers and creatives together. Those three days were more than just inspiring; At Allume I decided to be more disciplined in my writing. Armed with fresh perspective, information and inspiration I developed writing schedules and mapped out a laundry list of things to do to keep my head in the writing game before I checked out of my hotel room. I had a fresh determination to write more intentionally.
We had heard about the hurricane approaching NYC so we got on the road early. As we entered city limits we saw this sign. That’s when we knew it was serious.
It’s been a year since then but it’s only now that it’s all starting to come together for me. God is audacious enough to use a superstorm to teach me something new about Him, His mercy, His love and His plan. And, He taught me a lot about who I am in Him.
I’m trying to wrap this in a few simple life lessons I’ve learned.
Have you ever created a foolproof plan, mapping out every step along the road to the ultimate destination only to discover that your plan was useless? I thought I had mapped out the course to better writing but it turns out I wouldn’t be doing much writing this year. Those charts and schedules I created in my Allume binder would stay there. My story telling skills would be used to tell the individual stories of homeowners whose homes we would clean, rebuild and refurnish at The Legacy Center.
I didn’t know how everything would change but everything did. If you haven’t read about what NY looked like or what happened in those initial days take a look at my first post – Hurricane Sandy Part 1.
Life Lesson #2 – He will guide you — let Him lead!
Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say,“This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)
On October 29th the warehouse would remain closed as NYC was shut down. Shelves were up and ready for…well, nobody knew at that point.
I asked the Police Chief where we could set up. He asked what we had on the truck. I explained we had socks, diapers and water. His eyes grew wide. He pointed toward a crowd – there were young girls standing on a line waiting to charge their phones, on cold, wet sand, in flip flops. I began to weep (no surprise there, huh?) as I realized that this was a divinely orchestrated moment.
Something as seemingly insignificant as people standing in cold, wet sand was important to God. I can still see those girls faces as we handed out those socks — they may not have realize it but that day they received a love letter from the Lord.
I learned that He truly knows our needs before we do. If He’s mindful enough to provide for the sparrows why would we ever doubt that He’s mindful of us?
The Lord knew what my city would need before Hurricane Sandy was on anyone’s radar. He knew how He would use everyone involved at TLC; former missionaries, trained disaster relief responders, event coordinators, staff and all the volunteers. Where could God use you to respond to hurting people if you allowed Him to lead?
Life Lesson #3 – All you have to do is ask.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)
Life lesson #4 happened when I came to the end of myself:
“But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.” Acts 1:8
God has a plan for every single one of His creations, including you. I once disqualified myself because of my past, my 5 year break up with the Lord left me a shell of a woman. No, I wasn’t a murderer or a drug addict. My sins weren’t the kinds of things that land you in jail or on the cover of a tabloid. It wasn’t the obvious sinful stuff that kept me from the Lord, it was the ugliness that lurked in my heart. I had my own agenda, my own selfish plans and a lot of rotten attitudes. Attitudes that kept me from having a healthy, personal, relationship with God. Over the past few years He settled those things in me, wiped the slate clean, loved me unconditionally, and showed me that He can still use me. And, He can use you too…if you let Him!
Kalyn says
It’s great to find an expert who can exalpin things so well