What a Week

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn. I don't necessarily know who you are, where you are or what storms you are facing in your life however I can testify that each new day is in fact glorious, regardless of any of the above.

As you undoubtedly know, Hurricane Harvey was an incredible storm that brought unimaginable damage to so, so many. This morning I am going to share reflections from this past week. At this moment I am not exactly sure what "the point" of this Happy Friday will be...perhaps it is simply therapeutic for me to write about what we have lived, done & seen. I trust that God will use this to encourage, empower & equip others as we face storms - of life & of nature - in our lives.

Last Friday at this time my oldest Tender Warrior, Payton, and I loaded up in the truck so I could take him to the University of Houston. The football team was being bused out to Austin later in the day and we didn't want his car parked there as we were expecting severe flooding. It was already beginning to rain. We talked about how the city flying by our windows would probably look much different when he returned. We talked about the fact that we might lose cell phone service, that there might be a time when I wouldn't be able to talk to him but I assured him that I would call/text as soon as I could. I must of assured him 20 - 30 times as we drove the 45 minutes to UH that his Mom, brothers & I would be just fine. 

After running into work for a few hours and preparing the office for the impact from Harvey, I hustled home to make more preparations. My other two Tender Warriors, Gehrig & Landry, helped me work around the house - I didn't know at that moment that for the next 6 days these two would be by my side almost constantly, ready to work and do whatever needed to be done.

I had never been through a hurricane before so I didn't know how much time is spent waiting for the storm to hit. Kind of sounds funny doesn't it? You know the storm is coming, that you can't do anything about it and so you wait. 

There were 2 times during this past week that I was woken up in a panic. Friday afternoon was one of them. Having completed our preparations and eaten lunch I laid down to take a nap. Throughout this I became really aware that I must get rest when I could as I anticipated times that sleep would not be an option but the mental & physical strength needed would be extreme. I was jolted from my nap by my Beautiful Bride as there was a tornado warning. This would become a recurring theme throughout Friday & Saturday as Harvey was generating tornado after tornado in advance of making landfall. At one point there were 8 different tornado's happening at the same time in our area. It was kinda weird; that first warning when Kath woke me up caused great alarm & concern however they became so regular that it became "oh, it's just another tornado warning." I was also acutely aware that this could be dangerous, to become so callous to the warnings. 

Friday & Saturday were spent visiting with neighbors, talking about the impending storm, etc. Like I said, a lot of waiting. The rains continued to fall but there is nothing unusual about that living on the Texas Gulf Coast. We would intermittently watch the television as Harvey began to make landfall about 100 south of us. 

I went to bed somewhat early on Saturday, fully expecting that all of our strength would be needed the next day...I had no idea how right I was about that one! The 2nd time I got woken in a panic happened at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Kathy & Gehrig came to get me to tell me the waters were rising. We went out our front door in a driving rain. Before I got past our front yard, the water was more than ankle deep. I looked to our neighbors house to the left and their car in the street was under water up to the hood. The street beside our house was now a river. As I walked out to the corner the water was now nearly knee high. This is where one of the lighter moments of all this occurred. As I am standing at the corner Landry exclaims, "Look Dad!" I look down and a fish is swimming past me!

Gehrig & I walked around a little bit to see what was happening. The river that used to be the road beside our house was about 1" from completely coming over and running into our back yard. We walked to the next street over and standing at that corner the water was up over my knees. By now it is about 4:00 in the morning and we decide to get any sleep we can until it starts to become light around 6:00 a.m. so we would be ready to work.

Around 5:30 a.m. my Beautiful Bride wakes me up again. The rains have not let up, let alone stopped. We now have water nearly half way up our yard. The news is showing homes flooded up to the 2nd floor. They are anticipating twice as much rain as we have already received. It is at this point that Kath & I have a conversation I will never forget. We decide what things we will try to save and what things we will not. I decide I will get our ladder from outside, which 2nd floor window we will set it be and the window we will break to climb out on the ledge of the 1st floor so we can then climb to the roof if needed. It's a surreal moment, when you are having a very real conversation about how you will try to save your families lives. Thankfully, these actions were not needed.

A little after 6:00 a.m. Gehrig & I pulled on our fishing waders and go outside to see what is happening. It is still raining really hard. Our street is now a running river as well. A big truck turns the corner and looks down the street. I tell the gentleman driving that he will not make it down the street as the water is more than waist deep in the middle of the block. A late 50 to early 60-year old man hops out of the passenger side. He says he has to go get his elderly Mom out. We offer to help. Kath quickly asks if he wants us to get Gehrig's kayak and go help him. He says yes. He starts walking down the street while Gehrig & I go get the kayak. I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to walk in a more than waist deep river in waders. We got to the sweet women's house and waited outside for her and her son. It is a very humbling experience when you watch a person carry out of their house their most cherished possessions, the only things they think they can take, prepared to lose everything else. For this sweet women it was a small safe and a plastic bag with clothes. We gently helped her sit in the kayak and then we walked her out. I prayed for this sweet woman as we walked through the waters. When we finally made it to the truck and got her in, her son, tears welling in his eyes said, "thank you and God Bless you" and then gave me a hug that I will never forget. I don't know the man's name nor his sweet Mom's name but I will never forget that moment.

I am standing out in front of my house chugging a bottled water when my neighbor from across the street comes out and says he has a friend down the street with a small family who needs help getting out. I don't realize at this moment that the lives of my family & I are about to profoundly change in a very positive manner forever. We again walk through the river that used to he our street down to this sweet families home. During the night they had to escape their one story home and go to the 2nd floor of their garage to sleep. 

After they too had decided what things they would take with them, we loaded the Mom, 3-year old little girl & 5-year old boy into the kayak and walked them out. As soon as the little boy sat in the kayak he said, "I am the captain!" I got the captains permission to head down the street.

After we got that family to our neighbors house we got out of our waders and into some dry clothes. The waiting then began again - waiting for the rain to stop and for the floodwaters to recede. That evening we had a cookout at our neighbors house. The rains had let up and 4 different families came over. We ate and sat around and visited. It was during this time that another funny moment happened. As the flood waters began to recede their was the most pathetic looking craw-fish you have ever seen walking down the street. He looked exhausted and could care less that we were there...I understood completely. My sweet neighbor gently picked him up and put him back in the water. Your empathy for every living thing goes up when going through storms.

Since we have more room at our home the sweet little family came to stay the night at our house that night and they have stayed here every night since. They are all sound asleep upstairs right now as I type this Happy Friday and for this I am so grateful. We have spent so much time sitting around the kitchen table talking about faith, family & life. The man is a great Tender Warrior, doing everything he can to take care of his precious little family. His Bride is a very sweet, kind woman who absolutely adores her husband and their two sweet children. And those two little ones? Such sweet, special kids! I wonder if they realize they are stuck with the Haslam's forever?!?! :)

The last 4 days - I think it is 4...you lose complete sense of time during these storms - have been a blur of helping those whose homes were flooded begin to recover. Ripping out carpets, drywall, etc. It is funny, though the days have been long and the work has been intense, I did not feel tired at all until the end of the day yesterday. Perhaps I finally felt the fatigue as I knew this was the last house we were going to gut...until this weekend.

I have to tell you one of the most heartwarming moments I saw during this past week. The streets that were flooded by water on Sunday were once again flooded on Tuesday...with cars of family, friends and complete strangers coming to help others. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

I also must tell you about my Prayer Warriors...these are the group of men that I call on when I need prayer. I am very mindful of the fact that my Beautiful Bride & Tender Warriors look to me for leadership, strength & courage. I don't want to place my stress on them and, I believe, it is my responsibility to alleviate their stress. So, when I feel myself feeling stressed I go to these Godly men I am blessed to do life with and ask them to lift me up in prayer. I sent them 2 text messages asking for prayer during this storm - 1 was in the early morning hours Sunday and the 2nd was on Monday night when it had started raining heavily again. My requests were simple; for faith, safety & that the light of the Lord would shine through me in all of my interactions. I hope these men know how much I truly love, value & appreciate them.

So what all would I tell you about this week? Storms are real but God is greater! Family & friends mean everything! Most people are genuinely good and the greatness of others is on full display when storms come!

Please continue to pray for Texas and for those in Louisiana who also were impacted by this historic storm. The devastation of property is real and broken spirits abound. Please be the hands & feet of God where you can. For many the only hope they may say is in your face and sometimes, they just need to be carried by us for a little while, to borrow our strength. We will all be on all sides of a storm at some point in time in our lives...let's never forget and always love. With what I have seen & lived over the past week, I can assure you that love is in fact enough.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev