Hurricane Beryl was surprising. Kind of like some harmless looking person who comes knocking at your door. He's a kid really, clean cut, neat looking, nice smile. You know he's selling something, but he's so charming and you are prepared for a little cost for whatever he brings anyway. But he has a secret agenda and the means to carry it out, cleverly hidden from view. Maybe he knows karate and plants a kick right in your face. Maybe he has a lethal weapon in his pocket that he whips out with gusto. Maybe he has manipulation skills that have you agreeing to an unbelievable deal before your mind engages, and then he zaps you with the bill.
Yes, Beryl left at least most of us shaking our heads at how different it was than expected. We were unprepared for the essence that was Beryl. Berylessence was shocking.
I learned that there is no such thing as "just" at Category 1 hurricane. There are so many other variables than just the measurement that results in the category label. Beryl had all the storm elements arranged and aligned to scatter and destroy our ideas of what it would be like.
Beryl was scary. I was not prepared for how unsettled I felt listening to the wind literally howling outside. Watching the gales of wind blow the rain horizontally, giving extra punch to what was really only moderate rain where I was located. And I kept wondering if there would be a tornado in addition to the hurricane to threaten my safety.
Fortunately, my home was fine, with no damage from the rain or the wind. Whew. Blessed.
But then I started a new chapter: The aftermath. The no power and playing the waiting game to see how long that might last, and wondering when was the right time to set up the generator. I'm always cautious, but now I was super hesitant because while I had owned the generator for some time, I had never used it. A new adventure was staring me in the face, and I wanted no part of it. No thanks! I'm a girly girl with -0- mechanical inclination. And I'm not exaggerating; maybe -0- is a bit high.
I call this new chapter "Generator Girl". I've got this cool red get up. It should have a big "G" on the front, but work with me here. And just to play along with the fantasy, I'm a super cute super heroine. I don't look stressed at all! Large and in charge and very happy about that.
Crash... back to reality. She might can take great selfies, but Generator Girl isn't happy at all. She's terrified! She chooses NOT to be a cute super heroine. She's looking for an escape hatch, ready to disappear.
But fortunately she's got a big God, who takes her along to teach her stuff she does not desire to learn, but He obviously has the lessons going.
So... I took a deep breath, and reflected on what I know. I'm not alone, God's got this. But still, I'm not ready just yet.
God is patient. Thank God.
I have a very healthy respect for a machine that can use gasoline power to produce electric currents that fly through extension cords. Extension cords plugged in to wake up and run what I chose as my most important devices. Generator capability is amazing to me. But also, this healthy respect is accompanied with a healthy fear. Mishandling can be so dangerous. Most every local natural disaster spawns reports of mishandling a generator and the results that are worse than I can imagine: a flash fire, carbon monoxide poisoning, and more. So, in an effort to do all this in the safest way, I harbored a deep understanding of the importance of closely following instructions from an electrician friend to prepare for this hurricane season ahead of time. What extension cords to buy. Where to plug in what. How much load was ok. And, of course, because I'm me, I carefully read and re-read the manual. And, ok, I even highlighted here and there because that's what I do.
So I was super prepared. I had all this information, but I wasn't ready to press Go. I'm great at being prepared. Terrible at putting all those preparations into practice, especially when that practice involves me doing things that don't come naturally.
Bottom line, I kept thinking if I just waited, maybe the electricity would come back on. But time kept marching on and my wish was not granted. It turned out that I was one of over two million people in the greater Houston area with no power. Wow.
I lost power around 8am in the morning, and by about 4pm that afternoon, I finally chose to move forward and work on getting this power source going for me.
Looking back, I see clearly that I was far too wrapped up in myself and my stress to stop and consider the blessings God provided that led to me (mostly) successfully running a generator for eight long days. The blessings that gradually turned me into an unwilling but resigned Generator Girl.
I was so fortunate that my son was home from working out of town the weekend before this and as just general hurricane preparation (definitely not preparation for Beryl, because it wasn't going to be that bad!) he came over and put a little gas in the generator and started it to be sure it would start. And... because I'm an overachiever, I had already purchased several gas cans, and he filled them.
So...
I had the generator on hand.
I knew it would start.
I had gas for it.
And...I had people God provided, who proved repeatedly that they really wanted to help with anything else I needed.
I figured out early on in this adventure that while doing everything I could think of to prepare was a good thing, when it came down to it, this journey had an added twist I did not care for at all. It's called Learn-As-You-Go. It calls in unknowns and unpredictable moments and other such freaky stuff. Obviously, I held no fondness for this twist. Hate would not be too strong a word, and maybe not strong enough. But really, this is life, right? Sometimes you must do what you must do.
I was stuck in Learn-As-You-Go mode, so I did the best I could, and with God's help, I figured things out and made some successful adjustments.
And I learned. Reluctantly, but I learned. Specific things that were helpful to make next time less challenging, at least a little.
God added a lesson about community here too - neighborhood community.
I've known for some time that I have great neighbors who are also friends. In this situation I learned more about that. We all checked on each other. But I benefitted especially in those extra days my row of townhomes had no power still and everyone else did. The offers poured in. Come and hang out. Come and stay. Come and do laundry. Come and take a hot shower. Go run your errands and I'll sit at your house so the generator can still run while you're gone. Best neighbors ever.
Generator Girl learned to fly, but she realized the only way was utilizing the wind of God beneath her wings. She drug her feet, and it was awkward and stilted and messy, but that just shows how the progress that was made was all Him. She's not there yet, but she hopes to be a more willing student for the next semester.
As with all new experiences for me, this one was frought with fear and stress. But because I realized how important it was to keep working through this despite how uncomfortable it was, I learned as I went, and I will keep going down this path of undesired learning, His hand in mine.
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