Well hurricane Harvey came in with a vengeance as it made landfall in South Texas dumping 51+ inches of rain (that's what we typically get in an entire year). The first two nights we got almost no sleep because our phone alerts kept going off with tornado warnings, so we had the kids sheltering in place with us on the floor of our bedroom. The next couple days were filled with prayers that the rain would stop, even if for just a short period of time, and give our poor city a much needed break. Our neighborhood was on a voluntary evacuation, so we had to decide whether to stay put and ride it out or evacuate. After much prayer, evacuating at that point almost seemed more dangerous than staying because most streets (including many in our neighborhood) were closed/impassable. It was a difficult decision for every family, but our decision had substantial ramifications to consider. We had to take into account the fact that we have two medically fragile children who can't go without their medication, if we were trapped for an extended period of time (beyond what we had already prepared for), need to have access to a hospital if they were to get ill, and can't afford to get overheated if we lost power (Andrew has had a hard time regulating his body temp lately. When he gets over heated it takes him all day to actually cool down). Also, we have a one story house, so we needed a two story option in the event our house took on water. Thanks to our dear friends who recently moved, we had a solid plan B in place. Their house is down the street from ours, so we blew up mattresses in case we needed to float our stuff down there. Their house is vacant, has two stories and a generator, so we could have stayed there if our house flooded from the hurricane itself or the giant and powerful Brazos river (which we live right next to) breaching the levee. We moved as much of our house as possible off the floor, in case of flooding, and everytime I pictured what we would evacuate with, if we did flood, all I could picture was David and I, carrying our three kids, two dogs and Andrew and Grace's bag of medication. My biggest fear (besides our safety of course) was what would happen if Andrew was without the 20+ pills he takes a day, many of which are heavy duty pain meds that keep him from being in agonizing pain. By God's grace, our street didn't flood at all; however, just around the corner from our house the water was waste deep, which meant we were safe, but stuck in our neighborhood for 4 days. SO many others were not as fortunate and have experienced great devastation. Our hearts are broken yet hopeful for them!
The Brazos River is on the left and that little patch of grass (our levee) is what is protecting our neighborhood from becoming one with the Brazos :-/
This was down the street from our house...
This was our street...
This was one of the streets where I work :-(
My mom happened to be in town visiting that weekend from California, so her trip was obviously extended since we were stuck and most roads were impassable. Once the water in our neighborhood receded enough to get out, we drove my mom to Austin so she could fly home, since our Houston airports were closed. We made a mini family vacation out of our trip to Austin, which was a huge blessing. We went to an indoor bounce house/playscape type area and took a tour of some pretty amazing caverns. We love Austin because so many of their restaurants, etc remind us of home, all the way down to their convenience stores... they have 7 Elevens! Back to the caverns, it was a mile and a half(ish) tour that Andrew especially absolutely LOVED.
Inside the cavern...
At one point, the tour guide pointed out an area where they do Wild Tours (this is a tour that lasts many hours and requires you to climb through a bunch of tiny crawl spaces, etc). I could barely look over the edge at the tiny crawl space that he was referencing. He said that you have to be 13 years old or older for that tour, to which Andrew excitedly exclaimed "Mommy, when I'm 13, will you do this tour with me?" I told him I would be his biggest cheerleader on that tour, but that was a tour better suited for daddy (I'm a pretty daring person, but I'm only mildly claustrophobic and there is NO WAY I could do that tour without freaking out and then how could I help my boy through it). He asked David if he would do it with him and David of course said yes. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the tour talking to God, or maybe begging God is more accurate, to please let Andrew make it to 13 years old and be healthy enough to do that tour! These are the types of battles that wage war in my mind daily. It is at that point I have to remind myself of God's perfect plan and hope on!
As I hope many of you saw on the news, Harvey was devastating, but it was no match for Texans (and the countless others who came from across the country to help and are now considered Texans as well). I have to say that I'm not surprised a bit by the sacrificial love that people have shown and continue to show to complete strangers because we have been on the receiving end of that love and commitment many times since Grace was born and even more so since Andrew's diagnosis. However, it was on a scale of epic proportion. I don't think our nation has ever seen so much personal sacrifice (from one's safety, time, energy, property, and above all their lives) from first responders and volunteers alike. What a beautiful picture of what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus from the initial rescues and to the clean up that is far from over. Once we got my mom taken care of, we couldn't wait to serve our community. Words can't express the joy we experienced serving together as a family (our own family and our church family, The Sanctuary Fellowship) all day Saturday and Sunday. As much as Andrew loves serving, he knows his limitations and had to forgo the opportunity to serve a city about 40 minutes from our house that was devastated by the storm. They not only had many feet of water in their homes, but they continue to be without power or water. David helped muck houses, while Abby and I helped unload an 18 wheeler full of supplies, set up a distribution center (in the parking lot of a strip center), and love on a multitude of people that came through in desperate need of everything from water and food to diapers. This little girl of mine literally only sat down for 5 minutes over 5 hours of running around serving in the HOT Texas heat and that's only because I insisted that she get in the shade and hydrate. It was impossible to get her to take a break and she was begging to help a little longer when we had to leave that evening because we needed to get Andrew and Grace from my parents. The Lord used her and her 10 years of experience in this world to minister to me a lot the past couple weeks.
Best Sunday afternoon... serving alongside our amazing church family was such a joy and honor!
The 18 wheeler full of supplies for Wharton!
Love this pic of my two favorite #17 soccer players working together on an assembly line used to unload the truck!
6 hours into serving a sweet community and still smiling! This kid inspires me!
Just some of what was pulled out of the house David was working on...
This was Saturday when Abby and I perfected our personal shopper skills in preparation for Sunday!
As I look back on the past week, I'm surprised about the level of peace we had about it all. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because the Bible talks about that type of peace, you know the type that surpasses comprehension? As I thanked God for His peace and protection, I realized that maybe the reason we had a measure of peace during Harvey is because we live daily in the storm these days. If you ask anyone in the Houston area to describe what they experienced during Harvey, my guess is they would recount feelings of fear, uncertainty, being desperate for information that can guide their decision making in keeping their family safe, camaraderie with those they battled through Harvey with, exhaustion, more exhaustion, concern for what the next hours or days would bring, feeling out of control, the need for the support of family and friends, and so much more. Once Harvey moved on, the river crested, and we could all begin the process of cleaning up and rebuilding, I would hear or read people talking about their new found ability to take a sigh of relief and get some rest. I wondered why I didn't experience those same feelings (don't get me wrong, I'm SUPER grateful we were safe and our house was dry and continue to praise the Lord for it) and that's when it hit me; when you are battling for your life or the life of a loved one (especially your child), you literally move from one battle field to another. No time to exhale because cancer doesn't take a break just because Harvey is in town, cancer doesn't give you time to clean up the mess, take a little vacation, and then resume the battle when you are rested. No, cancer rages on without regard for anything or anyone else. I pray my feeble attempt at trying to paint a picture for you about what the life of a family battling cancer, especially pediatric cancer, looks like will help you get into the mind of the far too many children and their families who are in the fight of their lives as you read this.
September is childhood cancer awareness month. Will you please join us in helping raise awareness of the unmet need for additional funding for pediatric cancer research? Every two minutes, a child is diagnosed with cancer. 10,000 children in the US under the age of 15 will get a cancer diagnosis. 1 in 5 children with cancer will not survive. For children who survive childhood cancer, the battle is never over. Currently, only 4% of cancer research funding goes to researching new therapies for children. Will you go gold in September for childhood cancer by changing your profile picture on Facebook, donating to a foundation that raises and donates all its money to pediatric cancer research (our favorite foundation is Triumph Over Kid Cancer. You can learn more about this amazing organization at http://triumphoverkidcancer.org), go out of your way to encourage/lean in to a family you know that is in the thick of the battle (y'all have done such an awesome job of leaning into us, please don't stop... we need you), pray like crazy for healing, etc..... just "do that one thing", that one thing that will make a difference no matter how big or small!
-"She holds onto hope for God is forever faithful." 1 Corinthians 1:9 #Hopeon
-"Hope is a verb with sleeves rolled up!" #Dothatonething
****Update on Andrew and prayer request- Andrew's last blood draw revealed that his liver enzymes are back to a crazy high level (like 10x what they should be). Will you please pray that his next blood draw (this Wednesday) reveals labs that look totally normal? I'm not sure what we will have to do if they are still high, but we can't afford for his liver to be compromised because he is in no way a candidate for a new one. Please also pray we are able to continue to keep Andrew's tummy pain under control. Here is a glimpse of what our morning looked like today... tummy pain is brutal!
How could I forget... we also celebrated Grace's 5th birthday last week...
And David's too!
Praying for and praising God for each of you daily! Thank you for standing by us always!
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