Hurricane Irene Preparations:
Bottled water - check
Non Perishable food items - check
Flashlights/batteries - check
Candles/matches - check
Electronic devices charged - check
Playing outside during the hurricane - check...wait...what?!
I know, I know, that last one doesn't sound normal but I don't know that others would describe me as "normal" so there ya go.
We survived Hurricane Isabel boarded up in a beach house on stilts on an island in NC with the hubs, his brother and wife and my then 3 yr old. My SIL and I even went out onto the beach to take pictures DURING Isabel just to "see what it was like" because we're just that crazy (or stupid depending on who you ask).
So today as I was looking at the ominous skies above and thinking... OK, I was thinking, Crap! If Irene really does hit us then I'ma be stuck inside with no power for who knows how long with the hubs and two kids who think living without electronic devices for longer than 24 hours is like an episode of "Surivivor". Must. Escape. Now! I grabbed my running shoes (these are really for looks because I have the lung capacity of a snail) and my iPod and was headed out the door when the rain started. Boo hiss! Then the 6 year old insisted that my walk would not be complete without him. I watched as any alone time I might have washed away with the rain.
Time to switch up the game plan! I hollered, "Who wants to go play with Irene?!" The 6 year old quickly got his shoes and hat on while the 11 year old launched into an explanation about the safety hazards of being outside in a Hurricane. I took that as his way of saying he didn't want to go with us...
Out the door we went and we had SO MUCH FUN! We walked, ran, raced, jumped in puddles and skipped our way around the neighborhood and down to our local library which was closed for the day, all the while getting SOAKING WET. The only damper (get it?) was when the total strangers driving frantically past took it upon themselves to yell at us from behind their closed windows. "It's raining!" Really? we hadn't noticed...
Then there were the guys in the truck who were kind enough to point out that my shirt was wet. I, of course, having walked out while it was raining, wearing exercise clothes, was not aware of the fact that my shirt might, in fact, get wet.
The time and conversation with my youngest was the real blessing. At one point he said to me, "I think these people driving past must think we're crazy!" To which I responded, "Maybe, but it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks of us. All that matters is what God thinks of us and what we think of ourselves. If we're living our lives in a way that makes God happy then who cares what anyone else thinks." He smiled at that.
I thought to myself that playing in the rain while having some good chat time with my kid was the real prep I needed because we're all gonna face hurricanes in our lives and they won't all be in the form of Irene. If we know where we stand and on Whom we stand, then we have nothing to fear.
"On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is shifting sand, all other ground is shifting sand."
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