As I wrote this blog at 12:55 am, one glance at the 24/7 news told me that Harvey made landfall with wind speed of 130 mph- now is a time to pray for those in harms way.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Early this morning, 12:55 am to be exact, I glanced at the 24/7 news station to learn that Hurricane Harvey hit landfall with a sustaining wind speed of 130 mph. As I type this, my mind is reflecting on the lives of those who decided to stay, hoping to simply hunker down until the storm passes. In one post I saw what 130 mph wind speeds can do- dismantle walls of homes, throw off the roofs, completely obliterate mobile home parks, down electrical grid, and if the massive storm surge holds true, then massive flooding will take millions of lives left in harms ways.

Sigh.  It is hard for someone like myself to simply turn off the 'care switch', especially when God gave me the gift of mercy.  I think not about the logistical things such as cleanup, but the human lives left in harms ways. I think about the people crying, the children hanging on to their parents or those in charge of caring for them, and I think about the emergency personnel placing themselves in harms way to rescue people.

 One spokesperson said there are the most vulnerable among them, the poor, those without transportation, who could not leave because they had no independent transportation.  The person who said this was a parish priest who said he was going to hunker down with them because he knew they would need someone to help them get through the storm.

Right now, I'm imagining people of all nationalities on the coast line, including those who may not have had a belief system, praying to God to help them survive.  People who may not have had any time for God before the storm realizing as their lives were being decimated, their savings exhausted, their belongings destroyed that maybe God does hold the key to what ails them.

I'm imagining  families hunkering down in storm centers trying to drown out the noise while trying to give their crying children comfort by singing lullabies like 'Jesus loves the little children' and 'Jesus loves me, yes I know for the Bible tells me so.'  I'm imagining many people praying for the first time the salvation prayer after listening to their Christian friend share the good news with them, all while the wind blows against the building they might be occupying.

My prayers tonight are for God's protection on the people in this coastal region and for President Donald Trump that this unfolding of tragedy will be an opportunity for God to use him to encourage these people as they struggle to put their lives back together. My prayers are that this tragedy will unify our nation and make us realize we are all one nation, regardless of skin color, creed, or nationality.

Sometimes it takes the storms in our life to teach us what is truly important in life. One thing I know is this: Jesus is the good shepherd who laid down his life for all who lie in harms way of Harvey.