Preparation: A Lesson from Hurricane Irma

Posted on by beautybeyondbones

I don’t know about you, but it seems like the level of devastation and destruction is at an all time high here recently. Between Harvey and Irma, mother nature has been giving us a run for our money.

And I just want to say, my heart and prayers go out to all those who have been impacted by these horrific natural disasters. My heart breaks for those who are left to pick up the pieces.

Hurricanes are something else. It’s like, you get two – maybe three days – of a “heads up” to plan for the end of the world.

Living in NYC during Hurricane Sandy back in 2012, I remember the chaos in the days leading up to the storm.

HurricaneIrmaWaterPublix

And scanning social media today of all the photos of empty grocery shelves and Walmart looking straight out of the Zombie apocalypse, I was brought back to that time. And I couldn’t help but think about the powerlessness we have when it comes to mother nature.

We can’t control it. But we can do our best to be prepared.

I remember during Sandy, all the local news stations would be playing up the importance of a “Go Bag” – and telling us all the essentials we’d need to survive the impending doom: Canned goods, bottled water, diapers, candles, an emergency radio…

I’ll tell you what, you could not find a flashlight battery in all of lower Manhattan to save your life.

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My Sandy Survival Kit

Looking back, in actuality all I really needed was a bottle of wine, some dry roasted cashews and a puzzle, but that’s a story for another day.

With all this news coverage of hurricane preparation today, I found my mind wandering to the thought of another kind of preparation.

How am I preparing for salvation?

Really. How am I preparing for the day when I come face to face with my Maker?

And in case you’ve never thought about it, I invite you to right now. And spoiler alert, it’ll sober you up real quick.

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There are a lot of things in my life that I’m going to have to “answer for.” Things that I am not proud of. Thoughts I’ve thought. Things I’ve done and said. And frankly, things I haven’t done or haven’t said. I’ve got some ‘explainin’ ta do…you know what I mean?

But all kidding aside, in preparation for this hurricane, seeing the lengths that people will go to for a loaf of bread, makes me question if I should be a little more panicky when it comes to the fate of my salvation.

Really, what am I doing?

Sure I go to church. I try to be a good person and love Jesus. But is that enough? Frankly, I’m impatient, self-centered, and lazy at best. And if I’m being totally honest, I spend more time fixated on The Bachelor or other trash TV than I do in worship to Jesus.

And that is a statistic I am straight up embarrassed to admit.


But despite my shame in that fact, one thing has become blatantly obvious:

Repentance and humility are nowhere to be found in pop culture, or frankly society at large.

People would rather hold grudges or have public “beefs” that get played out in petty songs or catty Twitter fights than show any type of remorse.

Arrogance, indignation, pride – there are so many more “attractive” or easy alternatives to humility or apologizing.

So I have to ask myself: have I truly asked for forgiveness of those things I have in my closet?

Because Jesus loves to forgive. But I’ve got to ask for it.

And what about those things I have asked forgiveness for, and yet continue to do – over and over?

Can you relate?

Preparing for the hurricane – there is a “life-and-death-ness” to the urgency people go about it with. Because it is: survival is in the balance.

Why don’t we treat preparing for our judgment day the same way?

Where’s the urgency? Where’s the priority?

What is one thing I can do today – right now – to prepare for that day when I have to come face to face with God?

It may be as little as putting down my phone and – gasp! – actually praying in the middle of the day.

Or instead of watching the latest reality TV garbage, spending that time reading my Bible and getting to know the One who died for me.

We need to take a cue from the empty bread aisles and boarded up windows.

The storm is coming.

The question is: what are you doing to prepare?


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BBB: Because we're all recovering from something. // For speaking/business inquiries: beautybeyondbones@yahoo.com

225 thoughts on “Preparation: A Lesson from Hurricane Irma”

  2. I don’t think we need to fear judgement, so to speak, but we should participate in Christian life
    … and I think that’s something we do in community, and so it’s more than us alone

    … the unfolding nature of Christian ministry is interesting… and I think we can be more conscious of what God has already done in history

    … have a great weekend 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Excellent point about salvation… but don’t forget that getting two or three days to prepare for a hurricane is better than the absolutely NO time you get to prepare for an earthquake. I survived the World Series earthquake in 1989, and let me tell you, that thing hit without any warning. Everything was going fine, I sat down in the living room getting ready to watch the baseball game, and all of a sudden the cable went out, the power went out, and the shaking started, in that order, all in a span of about a second or two.

    I should add that “survived” is a bit of an overdramatic term. I was close enough to the earthquake to have felt it quite strongly, but my house and most of the city where I grew up only suffered minor damage. A few old 19th century brick buildings had to be torn down. I wasn’t near any of the collapsed bridges or freeways.

    And the day after that earthquake was the only time in my life I’ve ever had school closed due to a natural phenomenon, because the power stayed off for about 24 hours. (I was in 8th grade.)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks so much. So true – those two or three days is crucial. My heart goes out to those in Mexico who were blindsided without warning. Wow – what a horrific thing to live through. I’m so glad you were okay! Mother Nature is not to be taken lightly! Hugs and love xox

      Liked by 1 person

  5. So happy to read your post, if you remember we discuss about how to handle depression. I suggest that absence of God in our life has a lot to do with stress and depression.

    With your post, I am sure you might be finding a lot of peace inside as I found when I was fighting that depression.

    I wish you peace, happiness and health. Loved your post as always 💚💚💚💚💗💗💗💟💟💟💙💙💙💓💓💓

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Caralyn, you could stop watching all the trashy TV in the world but you still wouldn’t be saved. That’s not to say it’s not a good idea because it probably destroys brain cells. You could ask for forgiveness for absolutely everything but even though forgiveness is good it doesn’t save you.
    For by grace we have been saved not by any work we do. He has forgiven all our sins while we were unable to even ask. Justification is our title to heaven and sanctification is our fitness for heaven and both are the work of Christ.
    We have assurance of salvation (aka we’re prepared) and we know he will complete the healing work he has begun in our hearts because he is faithful, trustworthy, compassionate, and kind. As we trust in his love and acceptance, fear is cast out, we will live for him and give up to him all that steals life, and we don’t gulp in anxiety about meeting our Daddy but long for the joy of running into his arms.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. It’s rewarding in its own right to see you’re doing well even if you’re feeling fallible. This post you did here made me smile when I read it just now. Considering the possibility that you’re doing the kind of thing you’re talking about in your blog at the moment, rest assured there is room for different eventualities and different possibilities. I am absolutely sure you are a good human being given how kind of emotionally charitable your point of view is, and given how much you return to the people who care. Why wouldn’t you entertain the odd guilty pleasure? It’s called being a complicated human being. I am looking forward to what your book is like, for as soon as you took it official I jumped on the opportunity to order that from the blurb.com site.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks so much for this kind reflection. I really appreciate your encouragement. And gosh thank you for ordering my book!! I’d love to know what you think!! Hope you have a beautiful rest of your weekend! Hugs and love xox

      Like

  11. Congratulations on all you’ve accomplished in the past months! I have been quite busy with many things lately, but I do get your updates delivered to my email. Keep up the good work. I’ll connect with you on IG shortly!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Truly eye opening.. Thank you. It’s been something on my mind quite a bit recently, and as soon as I am done finishing up this comment, I’m going to get up and get my Bible. My Bible is what brought me trough one of the most difficult times of my life, and once things got better I started neglecting it.. Life is short, eternity is forever. Time to make to right choice. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Caralyn,
    I so admire your bravery, courage, and truth. I too, live in a box of shame, and I pray as much as I can and when I remember that God would help me to be more willing. I will now incorporate asking God to help me escape the box of shame.
    Thank you for always sharing such relatable wisdom and encouragement.
    God bless.
    xoxoxo

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Thank you for your thought provoking words…I know when I am in a dark place I can forget to turn to my spiritual path (Hare Krsna) I also know how important it is (for me) to have a strong spiritual foundation that underpins who I am and what I do…I chant daily, give thanks for what I have got and honor my feelings…good and bad, the thing I have found about God is that he never leaves me…I just need to turn my attention back to him and he welcomes me with open arms……much love to you and I wish you all the best with your book …. Paul x

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Amazing how a disaster of nature can expose the fragility of our lives. I like how you are able to keep your spiritual focus. “Repentance and humility are nowhere to be found in pop culture, or frankly society at large.”: Very true! we get so distracted away from these spiritual basics, don’t we?

    Liked by 1 person

  19. HI BBB,

    Yes, keep praying and finding ways to help. I am praying that we see people with open hearts ready to receive the Lord.

    Thanks,

    Gary

    On Thu, Sep 7, 2017 at 4:00 PM, BeautyBeyondBones wrote:

    > beautybeyondbones posted: “I don’t know about you, but it seems like the > level of devastation and destruction is at an all time high here recently. > Between Harvey and Irma, mother nature has been giving us a run for our > money. And I just want to say, my heart and prayers go out to” >

    Liked by 1 person

  24. I’ve been praying for you that one day you’ll have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Him alone your personal Lord and Savior.

    Like

  28. I know what you mean, but you’re living a life, don’t be hard on yourself. None of us are perfect and we can’t be straight off for sure. We’re here to grow, make mistakes and learn. Sure we should strive but should we agreed out over it? I don’t think so… There’s enough of that already ☺️

    Like

      1. That’s the thing, don’t be afraid of it, it’s how you grow. I’ve seen a number of people who live life so afraid of mistakes they don’t grow and they become of led help to the title and more judgemental which I totally disagree with.
        Love and hugs xox

        Like

  33. All of the back to back storms and crisis have me remembering my grandmothers words “These are the last days”. We must stay prayed up for ourselves, our families and our nation.

    Like

  34. It’s not mother nature. Those hurricanes are geoengineering and we’re in a movie 2 yrs ago. How prophetic is Hollywood right. Not much when they write all the scripts. Illuminati new world orda plans Happening and people are still asleep. How sad

    Like

  36. I was living in Sint Marteen when Irma hit!! I cant believe how devastating these natural disasters are… it still feels unreal
    Cheers,
    M & bear

    Like

    1. Oh my gosh, how scary! I’m glad you were okay!! It really is so unreal. Praying for you and your community. Hugs and love xox

      Like

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