No need to panic

© Karen Kyle Ericson, all rights reserved.

I just love it when I open the Bible and it applies to my day : )  Our 19th wedding anniversary is tomorrow.  Yesterday my husband called from work and said, "Uh honey, we probably shouldn't take that dinner cruise in New York for our anniversary."

I was disappointed, then I realized and said, "OH!  No, I guess we shouldn't be touring the harbor in a boat during a hurricane!  That's a bad bad idea."

He suggested we go out to dinner instead.  My husband likes to do the fancy stuff, where I like to do the simple.  Make my very best meal for him, bake a cake, listen to classical music, light candles.  So I told him, "We'll have a great time, no worries."  I think we balance each other out.

They are predicting a hurricane for the eastern seaboard of the US this weekend.  It looks like New Jersey is in it's path.  We had the same prediction last year and God sent a wind from the west which blew the hurricane out to sea.  I know He can do it again.  As I write this, I have peace.

Proverbs 3:21-29

Clear thinking and common sense tells me I should stock up on canned goods and water.  Maybe get some more wood for the fireplace.  We should do our grocery shopping today instead of Saturday when the stores will be packed.  We should figure out exactly where the New Jersey evacuation centers are!  If I think about ways to prepare for a calamity, and do all I can.  It's not as frightening.  Ok, so I was a Girl Scout as a little girl : )
21 Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;
don't for a minute lose sight of them.
22 They'll keep your soul alive and well,
they'll keep you fit and attractive.
23 You'll travel safely,
you'll neither tire nor trip.

I read an e-mail story something like this.  A fisherman lived in a small village in Greece.  Every morning he got up and went out to fish.  He sold the fish at the market and came home to have lunch with his wife and take a nap.  Then he'd go out and fish some more.  A corporate person came to his small village and told him, "You have no idea what you're missing!  If you become a big business, you can combine your fish with other fishermen and charge more money and be rich."

The fisherman thought about it.  Then he asked when he would have time to have lunch with his wife and take a nap.  The corporate man said, "When you make enough money to retire.  Then you don't have to work anymore."  Sigh, that's how America is now.  The fisherman had clear thinking and common sense.
24 You'll take afternoon naps without a worry,
you'll enjoy a good night's sleep.

Whatever happens with the hurricane, God will be with me and my husband.  Our souls will be safe and sound. 
25 No need to panic over alarms or surprises,
or predictions that doomsday's just around the corner,
26 Because God will be right there with you;
he'll keep you safe and sound.

I remember a song that said, "We are His hands, we are His feet..."  It's so amazing that God would use my hands for His work, then He gives me such love and compassion.   I share my ministry stories in hope that maybe it will help someone else give it a try.  It's awesome stuff!
27 Never walk away from someone who deserves help;
your hand is God's hand for that person.
28 Don't tell your neighbor, "Maybe some other time,"
or, "Try me tomorrow,"
when the money's right there in your pocket.
29 Don't figure ways of taking advantage of your neighbor
when he's sitting there trusting and unsuspecting.
THE MESSAGE

Guess you knew a prayer would be coming : ) Please feel free to pray with me about the hurricane.

Dear Heavenly Father I pray You will protect us from this terrible storm.  Please be with those in the Carolinas, Bahamas, and all in the storm's path.  Keep us all safe and strong.  I pray You will have mercy and reduce the power of these winds to a gentle sea breeze.  Bring hope and healing to our nation Father.  You control the earth, the weather.  Sometimes I look forward to seeing how You will work things out, we are so unprepared.  You are so amazing.  Nothing is impossible for You!
In Jesus Name, Amen.

This verse always makes me see a cartoon of God's two giant feet, running across the sky, kicking up clouds.
Nahum 1:3
3 ...His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
and clouds are the dust of his feet.
NIV