e all know that we’re not supposed to take anything or anyone for granted, but rarely do we actually understand the fragility of life until it’s gone. Hurricane Michael ravaged a way of life for many people across the eastern portion of the Florida Panhandle and beyond on October 10, causing catastrophic devastation for many people. Homes, cars, photo albums, beds, televisions, refrigerators, clothing, jewelry, roofs, and lifetimes of memories are gone, along with thirty-nine lives. For the storm’s survivors, everyday occurrences such as saying good morning to neighbors, visiting the local grocery store, and going to work or school, to name but a few things, have also been wiped out. It’s hard to imagine
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what that would do to a person until it happens to you or to someone you know. It’s shocking. We know several people who lost everything and many who lost a lot and are displaced from their homes and businesses while they rebuild. Our hearts are broken, and we are leveled to our knees in prayer for God’s grace to help them. It could have been us. It could have been you. A natural disaster chooses its path of destruction, and its victims must learn to cope with their new normal in its wake. Evacuating from Hurricane Michael, which was coming in as a near-Category 5 system, was scary. You could sense that this leviathan storm meant business and wasn’t retreating as so many Gulf systems have done in the past when heading for the Panhandle. Panama City, Mexico Beach, Port Saint Joe, Apalachicola,
