Sandy: The Aftermath

As I sit here typing from my warm,  cozy , intact, living room I am counting our blessings because even though Sandy made landfall about 10 miles away from us we still have a place to call home.

Many others in our area, and in the surrounding beach towns where I grew up, cannot say the same.

Entire towns are unrecognizable because of Sandy.

A storm that stretched 1,500+ miles and nearly all of the east coast.

People no longer have front doors to walk through, kitchens to cook family dinners, family rooms to have game nights, or bedrooms to tuck their children into at night.

Last night I had to force myself to turn off the news coverage showing the destruction Sandy left behind.

As hot tears welled up in my eyes I was a little more thankful for our house, though it may be small it is still standing.

For our cars, that they are still driveable.

For our couches though they aren't brand new.

For our washer and dryer to wash clean clothes.

For heat to warm our home.

For a place that our children can lay their heads at night.

There are millions of displaced people out there right now because of Hurricane Sandy.

I am thankful that we only lost power for about 13 hours, most of which was during the night time.

We brought out an old school boom box and let our kids have a dance party lit by flashlights and family camp outs in our living room :)

We've been hosting different members of our family and friends at our house through the weekend and into this week because they still don't have power.

They've lost all of the food in their refrigerators and freezers, though their homes saw no damage.  

We've been providing hot showers, hot meals, and places for people to charge their electronics.

And I am oh.so.thankful. that God has provided us the resources to help others in their time of need.

It fills my hear with joy to be able to help out-even in a small way.

No one in our area ever expected Sandy to do the amount of damage she did because we've had so many close calls in the past.

But this one made an impact on our community.

We will come back-stronger than before because after all we were born with sand between our toes and salt water in our hair.

It's going to take time, but I know we will get there.

He will provide, and He will get us through.