If this is your first time here, we live full time in an RV. It’s a big RV and weighs probably over 32,000 pounds. We spent the summer months in Pennsylvania with only occasional storms. We returned to the South September 1st. We literally are just miles from the site of the 2019 tornado that took 23 lives. But that was in the month of March. And hurricane season is almost over, right???
Until it wasn’t. Hurricane Isaias became a named storm on October 8th and tied the record for the latest first storm. The original October 8th storm was in 1905.
We did what any sensible residents of Alabama did, we watched a couple of different forecasters and prepared. We started with some repairs Thursday morning and by Thursday afternoon Gary had pulled in the awning and we began stowing away outdoor items. I took down the hummingbird feeder and my wind chime, I covered the bikes with our bike cover and actually clipped it underneath 3 different places. By Friday mid day we put away the outdoor chairs. Nothing was left outside but the large outdoor carpet and the welcome mat. And the outdoor carpet was under a very heavy metal picnic table.
I went to bed Friday night totally at peace. Let me tell you why. First of all, back in May we were in Smiths Station, Alabama and about to begin our longest road trip - three back to back travel days to Pennsylvania. Gary was not looking forward to the drive and was very apprehensive. The Lord gave me a dream and I saw a giant hand over the top of our RV. It reminded me of how Waylon might hover his hand over a matchbox car - protectively and proportionately.
I have had a deep revelation this year living this life of deep faith - there is nothing that can touch me that hasn’t passed through the hand of God. Do I mean NO harm will befall me? NO, we live in a fallen world with crazy people. But what I do believe with my whole heart is that only what God allows or ordains will happen to me.
Sara offered to have us spend the night at their home, even though she isn’t there. A few friends text to see what our plans were. The plan was to go to sleep and see what the morning would bring.
I must admit, as I was reading in bed I did ask Gary, “If the tornado sirens go off, will we run to the bathhouse?” We decided that if God gave us that kind of warning, we would heed it. So I put some essentials on a pile on the dinette…bathrobe, shoes and i.d. These are things we learned doing tornado clean up in 2019 that people were without after a tornado.
I put down my book at 9 and turned off the light. Nothing was happening and I was tired! 🙂
I woke up some time after 11 to the sound of Gary going outside. He had neglected the final awning over the door and it is manual. He was shocked that I was sleeping through the storm. I was wide awake now. The storm raged, wind and rain coming in heavily.
There were no tornadoes spun off of this hurricane in our area. I listened for hours and there was not even thunder and lightning with the storm. Just lots of wind and rain. You could hear the bands come and go and almost picture the circular rotation of the storm. Sometimes I could hear the wind coming through the trees before it reached us. We have mini awnings over the slide outs….they are called slide toppers; and we could hear them getting whipped around. Occasionally the RV shook with the force of the wind.
Hours before the storm arrived I saw the definition of Isaias. ‘Yahweh is salvation’. WHAT? How can I be afraid of something that means God saves? The Bible is very clear, over and over there are verses about fear. The only fear we should have is fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7) a holy reverence for the Creator of the universe. Just this week I wrote out Joshua 1:9 on a paper for Everett to take with him while he flew on an airplane. Pastor Joe loves to say “Your talk talks and your walk talks but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.” My kids are watching, my grand kids are watching. Do I really believe what I say I believe? If I have been set free from fear, I better live like I am not afraid!
I told Sara, worst case scenario, I die…and then I will be with Jesus. I really don’t see the down side. So I spent a very productive two hours in bed praying for everyone I could think of on every list I have. ♥️
It is now Saturday afternoon. We spent a little time this morning checking for any damage. Our bikes had fallen down, the outdoor rugs are drenched but God’s hand was on us and we and our home are fine. I went for a walk this morning and found a downed tree, a large tree limb and tons of sticks all over the campground but nothing near anything that could be damaged.
I did find a tree frog seeking refuge in the cup holder of my bike.
Frog in my cup holder
If you have any questions about full-time RV living or what Scripture might help you overcome fear, please click on the link below and email me! I would love to hear from you.