Alex and I grew up in South Florida. We were both born in different countries, but have lived here most of our lives and prepping for a hurricane is something we are both very familiar with. This time around, the threat of a hurricane hit a little closer to home because for the first time, it was OUR OWN home we needed to protect. We’ve experienced hurricanes separately in the past, and pulled from all of that experience (as well as sought help from our dads) and hunkered down. Our shutters were up and absolutely everything around our home was picked up or tied down.
If you spend anytime down here, one of the coolest things to experience (given that you properly prepped and have shelter) is to hit the beach before the storm comes. The locals know that pre-storm waves are the best waves and seeing the storm roll in through the horizon is spectacular.
Haddon and Emory fell asleep in the car and I brought Grace down with me to let her experience the winds, see the waves and watch the clouds. She quickly learned how much sand hurts when it’s picked up by the wind and tossed your direction and spent the rest of the time using me as a human shield… smart girl.
I couldn’t help but think about the story in Mark, of Jesus and the disciples on the boat and how scary it must have been to be on that boat being tossed around by a storm. And then watching The Creator speak to the storm and command it to stop.
“And the Lord heard their desperate cries, and He got up and He rebuked the wind and then He said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” No theatrics. No effort. He spoke to the wind and the wind stopped instantaneously. He spoke to the water and the water stopped instantaneously. The water and the wind recognized the voice of their Creator, just as He would tell death to release Lazarus, He tells the wind and the waves to obey His will.” -John MacArthur
It wasn’t long before we all felt cooped up and ran outside for some puddle splashing. We also got a chance to test out our Nebraska rain boots! 
Sweetest puddle jumpers! Also, because our shutters covered all of our windows, it was so confusing figuring out what time it was. The kids were in pjs by 10am, they had two breakfasts and two lunches, they took two bubble baths and went to sleep way past 9pm. The hurricane missed us but it sure threw us all for a loop.
