Through My Eyes....

I still can't believe that we experienced a hurricane. We evacuated 5 weeks ago to Fort Worth and returned home on Friday. Our evacuation was GREAT. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay with family (many of our friends were not). That was truly a blessing for us. Life for our family continued and was stable. The boys were with grandparents that love them so much and spoiled them rotten.
As we started to get closer to Houston there was noticeable damage. Not too bad. I thought it would've been worse. All though I wasn't prepared for what was to come. As we crossed the causeway and drove down Broadway onto the island, I was stunned. Words can't really explain the way I felt. Honestly, no one will ever understand until you experience a natural disaster for yourself. I feel blessed in that we still have a home with power. Many do not. In fact...there are tons of tents and campers all around. We have heard that many people are not even returning to the island. Several of our friends from church are not going to return. We will miss them so much.
What was really shocking to me is all the trash. Everyone who has gutted out their homes/businesses have put all their "stuff" out on the curbs to be picked up. So for now...there is junk everywhere. There are seriously landfills on every street. Fridges are out and on the streets as well. Many of them still have food in them. We took a short walk and the smell isn't very pleasant. As you can imagine. The Red Cross is very much present and have their tents set up ready for hot meals served daily. They even drive around and hand out meals. I was sitting in the living room on Saturday when I heard honking and this loud announcement. It was the Red Cross. It was heartbreaking to see so many people come out of their homes/apartments to get a meal. Even construction crews were hitting it up.
Many business' still aren't open. I am amazed at how many are though. Most only take cash. Our friends said that they waited in line at Subway for 45 min and it was cash only. As you can imagine...there aren't too many places open to eat at yet. I was talking to my friend Cassidy to day at church and I think she summed it up pretty well, "it feels like we live in a war zone". Helicopters are constantly flying over the island. FEMA has headquarters here. White tents. Work crews galore. Dump trucks constantly picking up trash, but it seems like they accomplish nothing. Most traffic lights work. Some have "temporary stop signs". It's hard to imagine when life in Galveston will be back to normal.
Thankfully our church building sustained the hurricane with not damage. We were excited to go to church today to be able to see so many of our friends and our ward family. It amazing how much closer everyone is now after the storm. It's true...natural disasters really humble people. We only had Sacrament Meeting though. Reason being...all the rooms were packed full of donations, hygiene kits etc. ready to be handed out. As I walked out of the meeting to head to the mothers room to feed Cardston, I was amazed as I passed all the rooms full of the donations. I wanted to cry but felt so much joy! Our Stake President was at our meeting today (Ward Conference). He came down with a change of work clothes and a truck. Right after our meeting, he went to work. I feel so grateful to be apart of such an amazing organization-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not only that, but such good people trying to follow the ultimate example-Jesus Christ.
I am grateful to be back. I am excited to go to work and serve those around me. I look forward to growing closer to my neighbors and friends. Most importantly, I have faith that all will be well. I have hope in the future. I know that my Father in Heaven hears my prayers and answers them according to His will. That will be enough for me. It's the small and simple things that will help us get through these troubling times. Tonight we had chocolate covered strawberry ice cream in our bed with Brampton as we listened to Pres. Uchtdorf's talk-The Infinite Power of Hope. We created a fun memory that will probably be a Sunday tradition. Life is too precious to stand still. We are grateful to be home, safe and moving forward.