Moment #3

The rains came Down and the floods came Up...

I will never forget during the second hurricane that I experienced in La Romana, getting a call and hearing that the church was flooding pretty badly. When Victor and I were able to get out to go to the church the rain was already up to our knees and beyond, people were wading through the streets as the mighty rush of water went flowing in all directions. Children could be seen playing in the water and store owners could be seen standing on the stoop where the water had flooded up too. This storm was particularly bad, people lost their homes, my friend Jordany and his family lost almost everything they had, there was no school, no church, no classes of any kind for a week and when the rain finally subsided we were all left standing in wonder at the destruction the waters left behind. 

I will never forget going to the church with Victor and his young son Nestor, seeing the sadness come across Victor's face as we realized that all the sound equipment had ended up under water, and that most of that equipment was ruined. Then in the midst of it all, standing there in the water, Victor turned around, grinned and threw up his hands saying, "what's a little water?"

He told me, "this is life, life happens, now we pick up the pieces, we clean what we can and we move on, thanking God that we have our health and our families and our homes."

Personally, seeing all the sadness around me made me feel sad, but for Victor the sadness only lasted for a moment as he was immediately reminded of how many blessings God had given to him, his family and his community. I stood there after taking the picture of Victor and I praised God for this wise man that He had made my host.

I have truly learned So much from Victor in such a short amount of time, no pictures or words could ever express my gratitude to him and to God for allowing me to stay with his family and to learn from them. 

SO, now, every time it rains? I give even more thanks to God because I will gladly run through the rain clutching an umbrella because I'm reminded of how lucky we are; we do not have hurricanes in Southwest Virginia but God is still protecting us as much as He protects those who Do live through hurricane season year after year. 

Next time it rains, and others are complaining, you know where to find me... I'll be the crazy chick jumping in puddles saying... "what's a little water?" God Bless and Take care of those you love.