A STORY OF PERSPECTIVE DURING A HURRICANE. This word Catastrophic has a different meaning now. As I see the destruction of what Florence continues to do to NC my heart breaks. This is where I was born, raised, and where I was rooted. Its where my faith began and where it will probably end. This weird word ,this crazy word. It sounds so horrible and scary. The meteorologists we have grown to love and trust basically tell you that this catastrophic hurricane will have a record breaking, damage causing, life taking impact on our state and our lives. Before this hurricane I was enjoying life like any other day. I had my faith and my family and I had God. I thought I had strong faith. I thought after he saved me from my car accident that my faith was stronger then ever. That was false. I realized real quick when this hurricane was coming at NC , that I didnt trust God as much as I thought I did. As I messaged friends and family asking for prayers I noticed myself feeling ashamed of the fact I was showing them my fear. 😱 But then I asked myself why? Why was I so ashamed? Why was I so scared. I was scared but I am human. I was brave but I am human. I doubted His protection because I am human. Then I prayed. Because I am a Christian. I believe in Him. Sometimes no matter how strong we think our faith is. We still get scared . And you know what..... thats ok. God knows we get scared. He wants us to lean on Him. While the storm was coming and the people around me were scared too....I watched the people I love, the community I love , and the first responders come together and pray. Say what you want about North Carolina but we prayed and we prayed . As scared as we were we prayed .Yes we went into a panic, yes some stayed to protect their own, and yes some ran to save their families.But we were gonna face this. While we were buying our bottled water and generators we prayed. While we were buying our milk sandwiches we prayed. No matter what we did , or where we went we prayed . We prayed for the ones who didnt believe. We prayed for every house , Every animal, and every human being in the path of catastrophe. We came together , no matter what. Skin color did not matter, sexuality did not matter, who you are did not matter. When your facing something this big and this catastrophic the only thing that stops it is love for humanity, prayer for community and Faith in God. That is why she was no longer a 4. Because of Him. That is why the first responders and linemen jumped into action, because of love for humanity, and that is why we continue to smile and have faith. The meteorologist was not wrong , God heard our prayers , and our cries. We were never alone. He was always with us. He held us tight and kept us close. To many , they say its just a category 1, but to the people of NC its still not over. The rivers continue to rise , people are still without their homes,people have lost everything, there are still people without power, roads are ghostowns, entire cities that responders cant even access. This is our home, our pride, our faith, our livelihood. But as the waters rise. So will our Faith in God. As the rain stops, we will smile because of His promise. And when all else fails our catastrophic Faith remains. Our catastrophic prayer is never ending. Through Christ and prayers We single handedly as a state of believers stopped catastrophic 4 with catastrophic power. So the next time you see this word .....I want you to smile and have peace. Although it is not over and we are not out of the woods. Have faith in knowing that He is there with us.This was not luck. This was not a meteorology mishap. This was good old prayer.