Others went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.

They saw the works of the LORD,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.

For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.

They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.

They reeled and staggered like drunken men;
they were at their wits’ end.

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.

He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.

They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
Psalm 107:23-30

Now, if that isn’t the description of a hurricane, I don’t know what is.

I confess I am a weather nut.  I like to “know” whether or not I need to bring an umbrella with me to the store.  I like knowing ahead of time if I need to put my storm-fearing dog in a windowless room before a fierce thunderstorm.  But computer models that predict the weather are not God, and the fate of the Texas coast is, as always, in His capable hands.

The satellite view of Hurricane Ike shows an almost majestic image.  But majesty and glory is far from my  mind this afternoon.  We have family in Houston who plan to stay the course in the face of an approaching Hurricane Ike.  They are inland, but they are close enough to the coast to feel the force of hurricane wind speeds.  They live in an older, beautiful neighborhood, with soaring pine trees surrounding their home.  Built in the days before underground power lines, the developers strung the power lines right through the back yards.  I can’t begin to imagine where 100 mph winds would blow that power line, and I pray with every fiber of my heart that it will blow away from the house, not on it.

I used to be a Florida girl.  We endured several hurricanes.  Even though we were about 45 miles from the coast, we felt some fierce winds.  I watched giant pine trees snap like toothpicks.  We huddled in the bathroom during tornado warnings too numerous to count.  I prayed, as always, for  the Lord’s hedge of protection to surround us, and He did, praise God!  The trees snapped, but they fell away from the house instead of on top of it.

And the rain!  I have never seen such rain as I saw in those storms.  I remembered Forrest Gump’s description of the Vietnam rains in the movie and marveled at the size of the drops as they splattered on the porch.  Torrential doesn’t even begin to describe it.  Now it appears that much of that rain and some tropical storm force winds could make their way all the way up here to North Texas!

So it’s off to the store I go, getting a few groceries, batteries, water bottles, canned food and topping off the tank.  Every step I take is an urgent prayer, asking God to please give the emergency management officials wisdom, to give safety to His people, to hush the waves of the sea.