Home safe!
We left my aunt and uncle’s around 10:30 or 11 last night, and made it home in a normal amount of time, if not at
a normal time. We had breakfast today at noon. Most of
today has been spent taking boards off the windows, putting the fence
gates back up, and unpacking. What was I thinking to take all
that stuff?? I’ll tell you one thing, my room is about to get a
major fall-cleaning job. Why do I keep stuff I don’t need or care
about. I have this horrible fear that I’m one of those “what if
it comes in handy someday” people. Aaaaaaa…… Must
change.
Considering what we thought might happen here before we left, it’s
weird to come back to things like a refrigerator full of still-good
food. (Good thing, too…the grocery store is out of
everything.) We had minimal damage–as in one tree branch one the
ground and Stacy’s
rose bush fell over, still rooted. I think the crape myrtles have
about half as many leaves. But that’s it. Wow. What
were You
doing, Lord?
It feels almost silly to thank Him…
(explanation in the comments)
PennyDaisy 
I swear, I already rebuilt all the electronic toys in my “fix and make better” pile that don’t have parts out on order. I suppose I should clean more . . there’s always cleaning more.
I went back and traced my path too. But if you zoom out too far, there just aren’t roads where I went. Sigh!
Why would it be silly to thank Him? It was mighty good of God to redirect and weaken the storm. But I think the scare may have been good for us, too. It helped me learn some things. I hope and pray that I will work in His strength to change them now.
All of us are pack-rats. I keep trying to clear things out . . . maybe someday they will make it out the door. I can never decide which things make the final cut.
Winter..I’ve been asking myself that, too…why would it ever be silly to thank God? Maybe I’m afraid of thanking Him selfishly? Kind of like saying, “I thank Thee, O Lord, that I am not like that person over there (whose house got knocked down).” Or maybe I’m afraid of thanking Him and moving on, forgetting the lessons I started to learn when I thought my house wouldn’t be here anymore. I suppose I can honestly thank Him that my family doesn’t have to start over. That would have been hard with so many little ones, etc. And I can thank Him for giving me another chance to learn from the experience of others, to worship Him instead of my things, another chance to put Him first.
I am so thankful for your thoughts, PennyD (smile); they encourage me to have a heart so attuned to His heart. And I admire how you wish to keep a pure thankfulness as by prayer and petition you present your requests to God, and receive His peace. I’m thankful, too, that your house was spared…praise the Lord for His grace! In thinking on it,I suppose one can rejoice in that good gift and not have the “glad-I’m-not-them” mindset by using that gift to help those who’ve lost? Just as we are given grace and then given opportunities to show grace to others (smile)…
I’m glad you’re home safe!