I used to love thunder storms, tropical storms and even minor hurricanes. As long as the power didn’t go out it was great. School would be cancelled and we got to hang around the house and watch movies all day. The only drawback was my dad making me and Brie go in the yard a pick up sticks after a big storm, which we thought was torture.

In Florida, these storms are just a way of life. Just something that happens year after year. This year seems to be particularly bad for North Florida. Tropical storm Debby has basically flooded all of my hometown and the surrounding areas. During the last tropical storm, Big Brown experienced some damage (thanks, rude tree), which in turn caused us to have lots of leaky roof issues during the last few days. I’m talking like buckets full of water filling up in our house. However, our damage is NOTHING compared to what some people are dealing with. About 100 roads are closed/washed out, houses are underwater, cars are being washed away, massive trees are down, the weather channel even visited little Live Oak, FL to report on the massive amounts of standing water. Ray and some other guys from our church went out yesterday to help remove water, dig trenches (ditches?), rescue people off their roof, etc.  After I got off, Ray and I tried to go out and assess some of the damage around town… but we honestly couldn’t get very far due to so many road closures.

Despite all the heartache these storms have caused so many people around here, it’s really good to see people loving and helping other people. It’s incredibly encouraging to see the gospel being played out so clearly.