Amazing Love
Jul 21, 2024 | by The Fellowship
While Katy was keeping an eye on the progress of Hurricane Beryl as it was crossing the Gulf of Mexico, the sudden shifting of its projected path was a big shock. Especially since it made a sharp right turn and began making a beeline to come ashore south of Katy with its eye passing directly over our city. The metropolitan area was warned to be fully prepared to experience all the fury of the storm.
Many rushed out to stock up on water, food, batteries, etc. Others blew it off, saying a Category I hurricane would not cause much of a problem. I heard about some ladies with a planned social event at a local restaurant on Monday, July 8, being very unhappy when it was cancelled. Surely that was over-reacting!
Since my husband had been admitted to the hospital a few days previously, I knew we would ride out the storm in his corner hospital room on the 6th floor. Therefore I was not worried about stocking up. But I did go home and with the help of my son-in-law carried anything that might become a projectile into the garage. I also asked the Lord to protect our home.
Our hospital room had a huge window and being up so high produced an incredible view of the sky as the storm began approaching Sunday afternoon. Looking down on I-10 and SH99 revealed heavy traffic since people were using the storm’s prelude to stock up and seek shelter. I prayed for the Lord’s grace and mercy for everyone affected by Beryl.
Darkness descended and many hours later I was awakened by the howling of the wind and intense rain hitting the window. At some point the electricity went out and the hospital’s generator kicked in. All vital equipment, including adequate lighting and air conditioning, never stopped.
Late Monday afternoon I drove home to see how our house had fared. All traffic lights were out, but fortunately very few vehicles were on the road. As I pulled into our driveway, the first thing I saw was a huge crepe myrtle tree that had blown over in our side yard. It just barely missed our house! “Thank you, Lord,” I said. The yard was full of debris. A neighbor’s back fence was down, but thankfully ours was intact. A close inspection inside the house revealed no problems. Our next door neighbor came over and said he would take care of the yard debris for us which I greatly appreciated. That night I called a tree service we had used previously and received a promise to check out the downed tree the next day. That never happened.
I put the tree out of my mind, knowing far more serious problems in the community needed to be addressed first. But the next morning I received an extraordinary text. A couple from The Fellowship, who are good friends of ours, had driven by our house and seen the downed crepe myrtle. They were going to cut it up for us and put all the remains at our curb for the trash service to pick up. I could hardly believe it. What an act of Christian service! Especially since the heat index was predicted to be 105.
The only way it was even possible for them to tackle this project was because crepe myrtles have multiple smaller trunks rather than one large trunk. A chain saw facilitated their efforts as they spread the work out over two days. Many of the cut branches and limbs were tied in bundles with string while smaller debris went into trash containers. When all was piled up along the curb, it was a huge, elongated mass.
“The trash service will never take all of that,” I thought. But God! I came home to find it all gone! Special orders must have been in place in the aftermath of the storm. My gratitude for every part of that tree removal continues to overflow every time I think of it.
Never will we forget the amazing love shown to us at a difficult time in our lives. May we always be prepared to be the hands and feet of Christ as shown so selflessly by these wonderful friends.
The challenges brought by Beryl, especially the prolonged power outages, have resulted in countless acts of love and service on the part of God’s people. Every one of them has been a testimony to the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior.
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and
the love you have shown him as you have helped
his people and continue to help them.
Hebrews 6:10
The Fellowship played a significant role in alleviating suffering in the community. During the afternoon of Beryl’s exit when electricity and internet were restored at the church, an email went out offering the church buildings as a cool place for all to hang out as well as charge devices and access internet. Age-appropriate movies for children would be playing and those who wanted to cook could bring a grill. Also, anyone who had significant damage or needed anything was urged to contact the church. Thus The Fellowship served as a cooling center for many days during the power outages and provided relief and help for large numbers of people.