Power of prayer & seeds of faith: 2 Hurricanes—16 years apart— same date of September 16th

Got word this morning that my father and my stepmother were safe after Hurricane Sally directly hit their Alabama Gulf Coast location on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Ivan hitting the same spot on the very same date, the 16th of September. Think about that for a minute, two hurricanes hitting the same spot sixteen years apart on the 16th of September. I'm sure we won't forget that date again.

When Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, they evacuated to Atlanta and were staying with us. I remember clearly as we sat around the dinner table, and my husband prayed in faith that the water wouldn't enter their home. When they returned they found that the water went all the way up to the doors entering their home but did not go in. 

Last night, we prayed again for not only their house, but their safety, as they stayed home. Considering that Hurricane Sally looked to be going further west at first and that it was a lower category number, we weren't too worried for them. However, as we watched the news, our concerns grew, so we prayed again, in faith.  

Again, we learned from a text message, that the water got really close, but didn't enter their home. In fact, a foot of water came into their garage, at 4 a.m. but then receded around 6 a.m. and never gained full entry into the house. Thanking and praising God! 

However, several homes in their neighborhood had water come in, and one caught on fire and burned to the ground. My father reported that lots of trees were broken or down, and that he lost his beautiful grapefruit tree, that produced hundreds of the best tasting grapefruit this past December. He gave away all the plentiful fruit to family, friends and neighbors and loved hearing how much people enjoyed them. It literally was a giving tree, just a little different from Shel Silverstein's children's book version.

As soon as he told me about the grapefruit tree, I remembered that I felt prompted to save the seeds from all the grapefruit that he gave us in late December. That in turn reminded me of the conversation recorded in Luke 17, where the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus responds, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."

All I can say right now is we have an uprooted tree and seeds from its fruit that reminded me of a verse about having faith like a seed and a tree being uprooted. I'm just going to sit on that right now and ponder the lesson on faith, while being thankful.  

Update: Later, I mentioned to my husband about how it was strange how that tree produced the most fruit my father had ever seen it produce in all its years. In my spirit, I felt like that was significant. When ever it's our time to exit the stage and go home, I hope we have the greatest season of fruit to share with others before we depart. 

Sincerely, 

Christina
Stay humble & be BOLD!

​"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."  Psalm 119:105

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