Responding Well

I have been impressed with the way people have responded in the Morehead City area after Hurricane Florence.  There has been such an attitude of gratitude and concern for others.  I heard over and over, “Others had it so much worse than me.” And “There are others who need help more than I do.”  I talked to an insurance agent who commented on the lack of the entitlement viewpoint.  People displayed gratitude and not greed.

In the Island Review, Realtor Julia Batten Wax commented, “In all those post hurricane Florence conversations we have had with friends, family, even casual strangers waiting in line at the grocery store, the sentences almost always begin, ‘I’m so thankful, I’m so grateful.’”


In the same publication, Atlantic Mayor Trace Cooper aptly notes, “While we don’t control the weather, we do control how we respond to storms.  It is the response that matters most.  We are not defined by what happens to us.  Rather, it is how we respond that determines who we are.”

Sharing Italian Ices

He adds specifics.  “When our citizens returned to check on their property, they checked on their neighbors as well.  Then, they turned their attention to the larger community.  Our police and fire departments received so many donations of food and water for our team and our citizens that we, literally, had to call in the National Guard to transport the excess supplies to other communities in Carteret County.”


These examples make me think of two verses.  I Corinthians 12:26 teaches, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”  I Thessalonians 5:18 exhorts us, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”


Life brings both good and bad experiences.  As Mayor Cooper commented, we cannot control what happens to use, but we can control our response.  God wants us to be able to thank Him and praise Him even we face negative, hard things in our lives.  We don’t have to be thankful for the storm, but we can be thankful for God’s care in the storm and the good He brings in the aftermath of the storm.

God draws people to Himself, helps people re-evaluate how they are living their lives, brings families and communities into a closer relationship, exposes past hurts that have not been dealt with, and allows us to minister His love to others.  I think it is amazing to find people who see beyond their own hurts to the hurts of others.  That is exactly what God calls us to do, even when we are not hit by a hurricane.