Hurricane Update #7

Life continues to move forward here in Florida. We hear more and more stories of devastation and sadness. But we also hear more and more stories of hope and restoration. This is good. We are trying to focus on the positive! 

Speaking of positive, we have power back at our house! Our amazing friend, T, is here helping so many of us. He was over at our house on November 5 and texted this photo of our meter running. He wrote, "And we have power!" H and I were at a play watching her friend perform. I received his text during intermission and just started crying right there and then. Again, another level of relief overcame me. He then sent a photo of the back of our house lit up. It's one of the more beautiful sights I've seen lately.

These photos come to us a week after K and I went back to our Palm Lake house to do a walk-through after another amazing friend, Y, cleared all of the furniture and debris and mud out of the house and from around the property, no small job. With everything out of the house, we were able to see that the foundation did indeed shift, in some places as much as six inches. It's unbelievable to us. We knew it was a tear-down, but this confirmed it for me. This is a photo from our guest room of the floor... and another of the guest bedroom...the towel is still hanging!

I'm going to close with two things: 

First, I have been doing the first two lessons of The Viewfinder Project, What is Ugly and What is Beautiful, with some of my friends here as we process all that has transpired. I know it's been good for me, and I hope it's been good for them. We're finishing up on Monday with a writing session led by my very talented cousin, Kelsea. There are so many layers of emotions, so many layers of loss and grief. So we're trying to name some of that and work through it to the other side. It's hard work. Continue to keep us all in your prayers.

Second, I've been reading an Anne Lamott book called, Stitches, which K gave me years ago but I pulled off the shelf because it seemed timely. Here's an excerpt that has been meaningful for me:

"[...] most of us have figured out that we have to do what's in front of us and keep doing it. We clean up beaches after oil spills. We rebuild whole towns after hurricanes and tornadoes. We return calls and library books. We get people water. Some of us even pray. Every time we choose the good action or response, the decent, the valuable, it builds, incrementally, to renewal, resurrection, the place of newness, freedom, justice. The equation is: life, death, resurrection, hope. The horror is real, and so you make casseroles for your neighbor, organize an overseas clothing drive, and do your laundry. You can also offer to do other people's laundry, if they have recently had any random babies or surgeries. We live stitch by stitch, when we're lucky."

Love to you all.