We woke up the next morning to clear, sunny skies. Cora did not sleep in! She was up by 6:30 and seeing how it was already a little warm, I was already awake as well. Looking back, it seems silly now, but we weren't sure if we were going to have church or not. Obviously we were not aware of the fact that a lot of the city was still without power and most families had more damage to tend to then just losing a couple of shingles. Oblivious to all of this, we started to get ready for church thinking that atleast we could be somewhere with some AC. Also, since we did not have power, we wanted to pick up some ice to try to save the items in our fridge and freezer. So we had breakfast (thankfully the milk was still cold), and got in the van to drive around. Seeing the damage around our neighborhood made us feel very blessed.
House outside of our neighborhood with half of their roof missing.
On the road right outside our neighborhood with a huge tree down. Someone had already cleared a path in the road.
Down another road we take to go to town - huge tree down. Not cleared out yet.
More big trees down.
We saw this everywhere we went. We learned on the way to church that services had been cancelled so we ended up driving to Wal-mart to get ice. After that, we just drove around seeing everything. We drove down near ECU to see how campus fared and it was very sad to see all the old, beautiful trees down on the ground. Friends living close by to campus also had yards that looked like war zones with huge trees down in the yard or even on top of their houses. Lots of power lines were knocked completely down with lines hanging in the road. Driving around and seeing all of this made me feel so helpless and also worried about if and when our power would return.
We ended up heading back home close to lunch and made peanut butter sandwiches and Cora took a nap. I was worried because it was starting to get pretty warm in the house, I wasn't sure how well she would sleep. But she did nap, though she did wake up soaking wet and pretty grumpy. We were so fortunate to have a friend drive by to check on us during her nap. They lived close by and had power. Seeing that we did not have it, he invited us to their house to stay as long as we needed. Hearing this just brought tears to my eyes as I wasn't sure how much longer I could take not having electricity! Sad, I know! I couldn't even go a day and a half without breaking down. It really meant a lot to have someone reach out that way.
So we graciously accepted their offer and started to pack up everything. We almost had everything ready to go when all of a sudden we noticed our ceiling fan was moving and the clock in the bedroom was blinking "12:00"! Oh it was a very joyful moment! I seriously cried out of happiness. We began at that point to clean out the fridge and put all the items back into it. Since we had some of our meat thaw out, we still went to our friends house to visit with them and cook dinner. We were so excited to return back home and have AC again!
Being offered help in our time of need was just what we needed so we really wanted to help others who still were without power and such. I called around and sent messages to those I knew of but most already were being housed by others. It was neat just to hear about people helping each other out. It just reminded me of how we are to be - servants to all and examples of Jesus Christ. The best example of this that I heard was that a close friend from church had a tree fall on their house. Thankfully there were not home during the storm but came back to find this. Of course, they had no power. When I called to check on them, they were staying with close friends and she just did now know what to do about the tree. It had to be moved as soon as possible. Later on that day, I hear that a group of men from a church in Raleigh came to help with relief work and they removed the tree from their house! How amazing is that? They did not know these people. They were just coming to serve and be that amazing example to all of what the church is to do for others and the reason they do it is because the love of Christ compels them to do it. I just get chills thinking about it. Also, it challenged me that when we are in a position to go and help others we need to be sure to do it.
Thankfully life is returning back to normal - signs of clean up are everywhere and it's amazing how fast it is going. I'm sure for many it's a slow process but driving around town, you almost wouldn't know what happened a few days ago. I'm really hoping and praying that we have no more serious hurricanes but if we do, I know what we need. A radio and some flashlights.
