Journal Entry 7: Thank You, But I’ll Be Dying with My Pants On.
Jesus, if you’re not in it; I don’t want it.
Journal Entry 7: Thank You, But I’ll Be Dying with My Pants On.
The day of hurricane Helene was kind of boring. I came home from a typical day on the job, and our family did our typical routines. There were some light winds, no rain, and by 8pm that night we sent our kids to bed without a clap of thunder. Rainy and I decided to chill with a movie. Halfway through ‘King Arthur,’ our power went out.
Helene had decided we were not going to enjoy a movie. However, we’re a stubborn couple and the power did come back on less than two minutes later. Annoying, yes, but we got back to our movie. The power went out again. More annoying, but it came back on, so we got back to finishing the movie. We must have played this power game a good five times; before we finally finished our movie. I think we made it all the way to end credits; before, a loud explosion, followed by darkness, ended the power struggle. Helene had won. That’s when the tornado warnings started screeching all around our city.
Helene had made a calm approach on our small city, and then arrived like an entire marching band at our front door. The tornado sirens continued to go off around the city. Power, our home, the neighbors, the streetlights, all out, and our phones began to send us tornado warnings telling us to ‘find shelter now!’ What did we do? We went outside.
Going outside during a hurricane with tornado sirens blasting through the night is stupid. I know. I know if I was playing a part in some Hollywood horror movie, I’d be the first to die. But this isn’t Hollywood, this is God’s story. Thankfully, Jesus has let me survive some foolishness. Jesus love us, we didn’t go far. There wasn’t much point in going far. With no power and a hurricane above us we could barely see a few feet ahead of us. “What now,” we both seemed to ask.
No power left us in the dark. Probably too dangerous for a nightly stroll. Hurricane Helene above us with howling winds that made our trees creek and crack. And a bonus of danger with tornado warnings going on and off without signs of stopping, what was there to do? Well, this Jesus loving, married couple, knew exactly what to do. We had sex.
Hurricane sex is different. Helene was howling, sirens in the back ground, and the windows shook from the random bursts of strong winds. The experience was not just good, as sex alone could be really good. The atmosphere made the moment a little more wild with some defiance. We weren’t going to hide in some corner; we were going to enjoy the moment. The night ended on a good note, as we both passed out.
We were snapped awake by God playing drums on our roof. Loud pounds rolled over our roof just above our bedroom like a tree was trying to build us a skylight. Sirens were still going off, winds were whistling at our windows, and it just seemed like things might be getting a lot worse really fast. I got myself out of bed and felt around blindly without my glasses on for my shorts.
Rainy’s sleepy voice came from her side of the bed. “What are you doing?”
My hand felt the soft material of my shorts, and I began to put them on. “If I’m going to get swept away in a storm,” I told her. “I’m dying with my pants on.”
Rainy laughed. “You’re a mess.”
I climbed back in bed now properly half dressed. “Yes, yes I am.”
Note1: This is a light story about a hurricane, Helene, that did leave a lot of hurt and even death behind it. At the time of writing this there are still people missing, and we don’t know just how much damage was done. Reports are still coming in. Hurricane Milton, at the time of writing this, just struck Florida as a category 4 hurricane. I don’t make light of the suffering. I make light of my own situation and would rather add a laugh than a cry.
Note2: Tornados are dangerous on a point by point basis like nothing I’ve ever seen except maybe a massive fire that just can’t be stopped. During a tornado warning you are advised to find shelter with your family in the best location you have to hide. This is not, mostly, bad advice. But I have seen a tornado rip apart a brick home leaving nothing but the foundation and some pipe work sticking up. The family was told to hide under the stairs. The stairs, like the walls and everything else, were gone.
When a tornado warning goes off in our area; which happens every year several times throughout the months, I pray. I ask Jesus to please protect my family, and then I leave it at that. Like I tell my kids, I’ll tell my readers; if God sends a tornado over our home we are as always in his hands. I can do nothing to stop a tornado.
On a happier note, we’re all ok. I may have my next journal entry talk about the next 4/5 days after Helene as it was an experience but know that we did survive. Jesus decided to keep us on Earth a little longer.