When it comes to hurricane preparedness, my husband is a master.
Having a master hurricane preparer has come in really handy this week as our family, along with the rest of the eastern U.S., braced for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. My darling hubby has numerous detailed and specific disaster preparedness levels. Make no mistake…there’s a certain process to preparing for a hurricane that starts the moment the storm is named. Some things must be done in stage 1 while others are more important in stage “code red”. This week we went through each one of the stages – all the way to “hunker down”. My apologies to the fellow citizens of Lakeland who may not have found a battery or flashlight in our local Lowes. We have them all.
Don’t get me wrong. I love how wonderful he is about protecting our family and working hard to ensure we not only have what we need, but that we are as comfortable as possible. (Poor guy knows how I need my climate control. If mama is hot… run!) I just get a kick out of picking at him. Shocking I know.
“Hey honey, we only have 48 AAA batteries. You may want to pick up some today.”
“Sweet pea, we need more duct tape. Only 3 rolls in here.”
“Yo honey bun, we have 12 flashlights, but no lanterns. We definitely need a lantern. Oh and while you’re there could you get me that new ceiling fan I want? I don’t see how we could weather this storm without that.”
I know what you’re thinking. I’m taking advantage of his good nature. But I’ve been wanting that fan for a long time.
As Hurricane Matthew barreled toward us this week, we were ready. We were stocked. We could monitor the coverage from the Caribbean, the east coast of Florida and our local news. We could get minute by minute updates of the storm track and intensity from doppler radar, sky tower radar and the new Max Radar – the most powerful in the world right here in our area. All we had to do was simply – wait.
Waiting with anticipation, having done all we needed to or could have done, we were ready. But I thought of all the people who were not prepared for this storm. My concerns for those folks caused a lump in my throat. And then the Lord quickly turned my thoughts to a bigger concern. “What about the people who aren’t ready to meet Me?” While we do not know when Jesus will return (there’s no doppler radar for that!) We need to be as prepared for the day we meet Him. Are you ready?
42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:42-44
