(Almost) Hurricane Karen

The kids had a few days off school, so we made our way to the Florida panhandle to visit the beach. We arrived on Thursday with plans to stay until Tuesday. When we got here, we saw signs telling us of a tropical storm that was going to be developing into a category 1 hurricane and impacting our area starting Friday. We looked up the weather forecast and, sure enough, rain and high winds predicted Friday through Monday. Ouch! Here's the predicted path as of Thursday morning.

Emily and I talked about it, were a little disappointed that our vacation might not turn out quite the way we had hoped, but ultimately decided that we would make the best of it. God knows how much we needed a good vacation to break away from the stress I've been feeling at work and bringing home to infect the family. So we tried to put our trust in Him.

We told the kids about the situation and they immediately went to work. They started praying the storm away. Child #3 has developed an intense faith in God that I can't really explain. His faith beats out mine easily. Whatever he does, he does intensely and I suppose that may explain some of it. In any case, I have learned that when he prays, he often receives what he prays for.

I can't remember exactly what he asked for, but I remember hearing one of his prayers where he asked God to make the storm go away. Something to that effect. We woke up Friday to beautiful sunshine. I checked the forecast and it now showed Friday completely clear with rain starting on Saturday. We made the most of the day and had a great time on the beach and at the pool. I think it was Friday when I had the impression that God actually was holding back the storm and that it wouldn't impact us at all. That was a little too bold an impression for me, so I didn't share it with anyone. I know I'm a wimp.

We woke up Saturday to beautiful weather and now the forecast showed rain on Sunday, but none on Saturday or Monday. Looking into the situation a little more, it seems that the tropical storm never did gather the strength they predicted it would, it traveled to the west of our position farther than the models predicted, and a cold front was coming in from the west and was predicted to sweep the storm away into nothing. That sweep was predicted to last through Sunday. Sure enough, Sunday came and it rained quite a bit, which was fun - we don't usually do outdoor activities on Sunday anyway and we were watching our church's General Conference a good part of the day anyway. So the storm didn't really affect us.

This morning, the weather looks beautiful with a very small chance of rain in the forecast (20% for about an hour this afternoon). I feel so blessed that our vacation has been so beautiful. God didn't have to dissipate the storm. But it seems to me that He did. I can't imagine we were the only people happy about the outcome and I can't claim that our prayers made all the difference, but I am grateful that they were answered so wonderfully. And I'm so looking forward to another full day of beautiful weather on the beach before we head back home tomorrow.