The Hurricane That Wasn't

Last weekend at this time we were finalizing preparations for Hurricane Rosa. Buying extra water and food, making sure the car was fueled up, and getting extra money from the ATM in case the power went out for a week or two. It was hard to know exactly how to prepare, as our part of Mexico rarely gets hurricanes. In fact, most of the locals around here couldn't remember the last time a hurricane had occurred in our area. The closest thing they could remember was a particularly bad episode of rain/storms about 10 years ago. It rained hard and fast and as the rain came pouring down from the mountains to the east of us, it filled up a "wash" (a riverbed that is dry except during periods of heavy rain) just north of our town that hasn't seen water in it since. The ensuing "river" wiped out the bridge that spanned the wash and everything south of it was cut off from the suppliers from the north. Most stores were unable to be resupplied with food and other necessary items for several weeks while they waited for the wash to dry up enough for supply trucks to cross over it (it took several more months before the bridge was rebuilt). With that in mind, we did everything we could to make sure we had everything we needed for a week or two.

We knew that Hurricane Rosa would likely be downgraded to a tropical storm before it actually hit us. But we also knew it was expected to dump a lot of rain on our area. Now, we desperately needed rain. We are technically in a desert, but it's been extra dry down here for the past couple years. The reservoirs were running dry. People have been praying for rain for our area for quite awhile. Not just ANY rain, but praying for the PERFECT rain. Because of the amount of clay in the soil, if the rain comes down too fast, it runs off before the ground can absorb it. If the rain is too light, the heat in the air can evaporate much of it before it penetrates the soil. Well let me tell you, the rain we got from Rosa was EXACTLY what we needed. It rained fairly constantly for a day and a half, but it was a pleasant drizzle almost the entire time. It was enough rain that if I walked from our house over to the other end of the campus without an umbrella, I would arrive fairly wet and wishing I had a dry shirt to change into. But I could walk around without any protective rain gear and not feel like the rain was stinging me from falling so hard. There were puddles galore and the roads were a sloppy, muddy mess, but the roads were still driveable.

And as for the wind...there was none! We've had windier days during non-stormy times than what we had during Rosa. It was as if there was a protective bubble surrounding our town during the storm. We were all singing praises to God for answered prayers! Monday evening the rain stopped and our family took a drive to see what the rest of the community looked like. We ended up out at the coast just as the sun was emerging from the clouds and beginning to set. It was breathtaking. What a great God we serve.

I can't explain why God chose to protect our community when other communities were not so fortunate. We know that other areas north and south of our town did not have it so well. Christians are not somehow immune to the natural disasters that strike this world and we shouldn't expect that God will always spare us from destruction. But it sure is nice when He does! While we praise God for His protection over the orphanage during Rosa, we also pray for the other areas that got hit hard. May God send just the right people to those places to encourage and minister (both physically and spiritually) to those affected.

As always, thank you to everyone who has been praying for us down here. We are so grateful for you!