giving – ♡Heart Tokens♡

Reblog from Saturday, March 12, 2016

(photo credits unknown) Overwhelming. That was the one word circling around my oldest daughter’s texts like a revolving cylinder door–the one word describing very raw emotion. Relief covered me as I read the texts first thing this morning, reassuring me that my daughter, son-in-law and grandbaby were still okay in the wake of the terrible rains and flooding in Louisiana that had recently occurred Friday. I had gotten word yesterday, they were fine and their home had not been touched by the flooding in Bogulusa.

When I first discovered that bad weather was coming our way, I was at the church Thursday afternoon helping get ready for our Bishop and Wife’s 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration, scheduled for the following night.

In conversation, a church member shared the dreaded news that heavy rains and flooding were expected to hit parts of Mississippi early Friday, and Governor Bryant had declared a state of emergency beforehand, deploying the National Guard to the Gulf Coast.

The rainfall totals could be equivalent to the damage from Hurricane Isaac in 2012. He then showed the weather band stretching from eastern TX, on a weather app from his phone. The angry red strand was heading straight for south MS. At that time, I had no idea that Louisiana would be affected, too.

Friday morning before getting ready to head back to church, checking my facebook, I discovered that my oldest daughter had tagged me in photos of her little hometown and the next town over. I was shocked at what I saw, and of course, immediately began praying. A sense of urgency washed over me, and I knew that the situation was very serious. I don’t know how long I prayed, but I tried to “get it together” enough to call a friend who I knew was already at church. I asked her to tell everyone who was there to please stop and pray right then for my family and also requested prayer on facebook. Prayer was made. I was shaken, and continued to pray for peace in the situation. In the meantime, I finally got a hold of my youngest daughter who lived several miles south of us and was also relieved that she was okay. I knew if anything happened in her direction, there would be better access out of town, than where my eldest lived in Louisiana.

With my oldest daughter’s permission, I am sharing some of the texts she sent to me:

Friday’s texts: All around us is flooded. We can’t go anywhere. We are literally stuck. They have issued us a mandatory curfew of 5 p.m. Roads are collapsing, washing out. People are rolling vehicles left and right. When the road washes out, the vehicles are falling in holes and being swept away. Most the bridges are out!! I’m fixing to try to get to the next town over, but honestly, we can’t get out through there either. This is Louisiana. Every parish is underwater, basically. I have NEVER seen it get this bad even when we had a supposed hurricane. Omg, it’s bad seriously. I’m going to try to go check a family member’s house. She had the baby this morning, went into labor at 11 a.m. I don’t think they can come home…Her husband said that he saw National Guard hummers at the store.

(Later afternoon) It’s clear towards Mississippi…I don’t know how far until more water… (I told her to call the police station and find out if they could get out of town) She said they (police) were everywhere.

Saturday morning texts: Yes, we are fine. Mama, I can’t stop crying this morning. The things I saw yesterday is just overwhelming. There are abandoned cars everywhere. I saw cars floating down the river. Sheds with people’s belongings floating away, crushing under bridges. I saw baby dolls and ice chests, clothes, shoes in trees. People’s homes underwater. People lined up across a bridge on both sides in crowds, watching their houses underwater. You could feel the emotions…I’m very grateful it was not us. But it is extremely scary knowing it could have been. A good friend of ours, the guy who has done A/C and plumbing work, etc., for us for years, refusing to charge anything, we saw him and his wife just staring at their home…She couldn’t speak, and he was just smiling saying, “We are okay,” knowing they are not! They went to sleep with water in one corner of their house and woke up with their bed floating. People had newborn babies and toddlers that they had to get on roofs. Pets died…I woke up today thinking I was going to McDonald’s as usual, and it hit me…NOTHING is going to be the same for awhile. People don’t have money and were barely getting by and lost everything…but their lives. They will rebuild with FEMA, I’m sure, but it’s not the same. Our electricity is still off until the water goes down. Not ours. We are out of the city. The bad part is, we are stuck here. Where do you go?? They have got to do something to keep us from flooding every chance we get. It was crazy, because it only rained one day here on us…Wasn’t even 24 hours.

(After asking for permission to share her texts, she texted the following) Yeah, go ahead. People are too busy nowadays, and it is only a tragedy when it happens to them. I am guilty of that a lot of times. I try to be prepared for everything, bringing way more stuff with me when I leave the house than my son needs, but better to have it than not. No one knew this was going to happen, but even if we did, the outcome would have been the same. We don’t want to think about losing everything, we don’t want to think about having to climb on a roof, praying it doesn’t collapse with our children. We don’t want to think about driving down the road and your vehicle being swept away with your kids in the back seat, so therefore, it’s not possible. I don’t even know how to put my feelings into words. It’s just heart-breaking…

I think she hit the nail on the head in describing what every Louisiana flood victim must be feeling right now. My heart goes out to every one of them! Louisiana has a long road of recovery ahead of them, so please remember them in your prayers and monetary means.

Even though it may feel like they have been overwhelmed at the moment, God’s promise rings ever true in the midst of tragedy, “…When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me…I will trust in the covert of thy wings.” Psalms 61:2-4

5838B7EE-5621-4755-9FFF-9C35F3E7A2CC “She loved too much, and you could see it in her eyes: where she kept all the hearts she put ahead of her own.” ~Ariana

Simple as that. Without reserve, without question, without expecting anything back in return. This was who she was. It was the very air that she breathed. She loved us step-kids, but more than anything, she loved my father.

She grew up knowing what it was to sacrifice. She took care of those she loved. In their latter years, both her parents, the elderly, and raised her 5 children, mostly by herself, while working and sewing in a garment factory. She was strong and fearless!

She was a giving person. From the time she entered mine and my 5 brothers and sisters lives, we didn’t leave her house without taking something back home with us. A few garden vegetables, a bowl of her melt-in-your-mouth homemade dumplings… We each were given a handmade quilt for Christmas one year, and several over the years, as well as, our children. This was one of her greatest hobbies. Quilting and homemade dumplings!

She lived in the skin of “love others, as self.” She lived it right on up to the ripe age of 93.

She was a giver of advice.. She told you like it was, whether you wanted to hear it or not. She didn’t hold anything back! We kids, loved her for it. We knew she was trying to help, not harm.

There is no greater thing in this life than to love and be loved…To leave a mark on others that would etch so deep, that the sands of time could not cover it or take it away.

Yes, she loved. Deeply. Truly. Truthfully. With every fiber of her being. And we loved HER-dearly- right back! ❤️

(The above picture is the very first of the few times she got to see and hold my first grandson, John Easton. He was fussing when I first put him in her arms, but immediately hushed, and looked at her with visible love! #preciousmemory #loveatfirstsight)

Tag: giving

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