Catching a Break

Hurricane Helene visited us this morning, although a tropical storm by the point it reached North Georgia, it wasn't as ferocious as Hurricane Irma was to us earlier.  At least not to us in the area we live.  I think the reason for this was a sudden unexpected shift eastward by the hurricane, resulting in us getting some strong winds, but not the scary violent howling winds that keep you on edge for hours on end.  The rain never let up, and that's the primary trouble of this particular storm.  The flooding in certain areas was severe, particularly south of us in the Atlanta area.  We saw images of flooding in Sandy Springs that startled us.  The rain kept coming until early afternoon, the wind blowing but not the severe sort of wind at all.  So we were spared.  My parents were nervous, of course, given what happened last time with this sort of threat.  But we spoke with them this morning, and we were blessed and all was well.  The only thing this entire region has to deal with is the outpouring of water - the rainfall totals are staggering.  The water table is saturated, and there's just nowhere for it all to go.  Up north in Tennessee, the storm traveled through, and as expected, the rainfall in the Smoky Mountains was immense as well, the rivers and streams raging, water levels high as town residents nervously look down at the rising, crashing water filled with debris rushing by.

 

We got some things done today once the weather cleared.  Mom is putting out fall decor, and I was getting the skit done for this weekend, one last skit for the "Toy Box" series.  It's going to be a fun weekend there. This skit features a "magic 8 ball," which is a goofy little toy that makes an appearance in the first Toy Story movie, and also has a part in this weekend's service.  It's a reminder for the audience of who's voice we should listen to, which of course is not a magic 8-ball.  To do this skit, we needed to get a magic 8-ball, so I picked one of those up on the way to getting to taekwondo with Maddie.

Maddie's testing again this Monday, so tonight's classes were focused on getting things perfected there.  Maddie was breaking boards, and doing her form, getting herself ready for testing.  She's doing well.  I was watching her break boards and work hard as I was sitting here in the observation area doing some work on a few lingering issues.  For one, we've got a senior ad coming up.  Another bit of $$$ for the senior year.  They know how to get that $$$ for sure!

The rest of the day was quiet, at least for us.  We were breathing a sigh of relief here, but the unexpected shift to North Carolina was devastating for them, particularly in the Ashville area.  We said our prayers tonight after reading.  Tonight's movie was "The Addams Family," which I love dearly.  Maddie selected that one, and we all sat down to rest the remaining part of the day before going to bed tonight.  We're grateful here, and praying for others elsewhere.