Hurricane Irma: The Weekend I Took 9 Dogs to Church

I'm sure everyone reading this blog has either experienced hurricane Irma or seen it on the news.  Just for the record though, I will mention that it was the largest recorded storm in the Atlantic (outside of the Carribean) with peak sustained wind speeds of about 185 mph.  It was larger than the state of Florida, and predicted to travel right up the middle of the state after making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.  That's a strong storm!

Because it was so strong and we live in a mobile home, we deemed it would be prudent for us to get out of the way, so we evacuated to church.  A number of other families had the same idea, so we all got to camp out Sunday afternoon - Monday morning.  It was so much fun!

For those who are wondering about the title:  I have a litter of 6 Border Collie puppies right now, plus my three breeding dogs.  I couldn't exactly leave them behind, so they got to come along.

 Natalie M. helped LilyAnn get the tarp off the chicken's hoop house so it wouldn't blow away.  We loaded all the chickens up and took them to the neighbor's shed.  (See below.)  William, Justice, and Emaline were the primary chicken catchers.

Natalie, her dad, and brother, Nathan, came over to help us board up the windows and get ready for the storm.  They were such a huge blessing!  They had to evacuate from their own home in S. FL, but instead of worrying about what would happen to it, they used the opportunity to help us.  What a blessing!  (BTW, for the curious:  Nathan just got a job in Gainesville, so he is living in the apartment we built in the barn and we are all (especially the younger ones) enjoying getting to know him better, and teaching him how to live in the country.)

We were preparing more or less (mostly less) all week for the hurricane.  I moved the animals to a neighbor's pasture because they have a very strong shed, which they graciously allowed us to use to shelter our critters.  Believe it or not, all our farm livestock fit in this shed!  (And now I have an idea of how Noah might have felt figuring out how all the animals would fit on the ark...)  I left the cows and horses loose, but as you can see, they could get into this side of the shed if they wanted to.

William helped me milk on Sunday morning while Daddy and Bo took apart the neighbor's carport.  The neat thing is that we hardly knew these neighbors before, but now we are getting to know each other better, thanks to the hurricane.  God uses even huge Atlantic storms to bring blessings as well as destruction.

The goats and chickens were locked in the stalls on this side of the barn, and our heifer, Berry, could get into the hallway.

Mabel and Mayberry.

40 three month-old chickens.

Frieda and Fragoso.

  When we finished milking and providing food and water for all the animals, we headed home and helped with the last-minute preparations. We had heard on Saturday that the hurricane was supposed to go right up the west coast as a category 3, and the eye was projected to pass right over us, so we had tried to prepare for the worst, hardly expecting our home to handle the winds that would be battering it.  We had all been praying that the Lord would turn the storm out to sea or weaken it so that it would not do damage, but it was our duty to be as prepared as possible, so we boarded up the windows and even packed our favorite books and wall decorations up.

Right before we left, I sadly locked Kep, Inez, Flossie, and the 3 cats in the barn.  There just wasn't room for us to take them.  Thankfully, we had heard by this time that the storm was supposed to be much weaker by the time it reached us, so I wasn't as concerned about them as I had been.

Justice helped me load up the puppies, then William rode with me (and all 9 dogs) to church.  Mama drove the van with most of the others, and Daddy and Bo took the truck.

There is a set of rarely used bathrooms in the old school building at the church, so I put the dogs in there.  Cleone and her puppies in one, and Duncan and Fiona in the other.  (Fiona had to be separated from the puppies because she chews on them.)  :)

Saturday before the storm.  (Photo credit:  K. Maxson.)

It was odd to see all the windows boarded up, but comforting too.

I have discovered a few things about sleeping on pews:

1:  It is only easy to fall asleep when you don't want to (during the sermon).

2:  Something in the air or the pews disagrees with the sinuses of about 50% of the people trying to sleep, so the afflicted ones sneezed, coughed, and sniffled all night.

3:  Pews are definitely made for sitting, not sleeping.

Needless to say, the puppies were very popular.  All the children chose favorites and would each ask to be allowed to hold "their" puppy.

We gathered together for an unofficial church service.  Mr. Maxson shared from Isaiah 40:27-31, reminding us that the Lord knows and has ordained whatever we are going through; that He cares for us and loves us; and that when we trust in the Lord, He raises us above our circumstances and gives us strength to endure.

 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Singing together in the fellowship hall.  (Photo credit:  K. Maxson.)

We also set out the food we had brought and had an impromptu potluck dinner.  It was great!

Game time!  The children enjoyed Battleship, card games, and this ball and net.  Here Russell demonstrates to Christian and Jonathan how he can almost shoot a basket.

Little people went to bed at 8:00 and the rest of us sat out on the porch and talked, watched the wind picking up, and hoped to see a tree fall down.  (By now we had reports that the storm was weakening really fast, and we were feeling slightly disappointed that we wouldn't get a "real" hurricane.  What terribly inconsistent creatures we humans are!)

Some of the girls (including Savana and LilyAnn) wrote in their journals, in spite of the fine rain which was blowing in on us.  Most of us were hyper (including myself) and we were talking, laughing, and shining flashlights on the trees whenever big gusts of wind came.  We didn't want to miss any of the action if we could help it!

Then - it was curfew and time for bed.  Notice, I said time for bed, not time for sleep.  I already referred to the (dis)comfort level of the pews, and though I am very thankful for them, I think that next time we camp out at church, I will move to the floor.  Actually, I think I slept better than some others.  I did not hear the wind outside, nor was I dreadfully oppressed with allergies (though I did have a stuffy nose).  Most of the men and older boys stayed up for most of the night, watching the storm and keeping an eye on the generators.  Several times I heard the pouring rain outside the door when someone went in or out, and a few of the ladies who couldn't sleep wandered around silently, peeking out the door every once in a while.  I considered getting up while the center of the storm was passing, but decided not to scare myself and just to trust the Lord.  Judging from the reports I've heard, that was probably the right decision.  (The not getting up part; trusting the Lord is always a good idea!)

Mama was especially restless and perambulated the premises like a presiding phantom...

When we got up in the morning, it was still raining.  We read our Bibles on the porch and tried not to be distracted by the rain, the downed branches, and the fact that we were now on waterfront property.

This is the church's private puddle which appears whenever we get a lot of rain.

We who attend Faith Baptist Tabernacle affectionately refer to this body of water as Lake Faith.

Bo and Noah volunteered to explore it, embarked on their air-mattress-turned-Ark, and set off.

The going was pretty slow with their stick paddle, so they decided to hoist a sail.

They also took on another able-bodied seaman, Second Mate William.

Unfortunately for the state of their clothing, Captain Noah and Second Mate William had a falling-out - quite literally.  First Mate Bo returned to port alone, leaving them swimming in Lake Faith.

We brought out the puppies again shortly before everyone began leaving.  They definitely added a new, fun element to the "camp-out."

The only bad part was that my dogs are not housebroken, so those bathrooms were - well - a sight to behold (and you needed to hold your nose tight while beholding it.)  I cleaned them very thoroughly before we left though and aired out the whole building, so I think they should be okay now.

Next best thing to holding a puppy is walking one on a leash!

(Christian walking Fiona (roughly 14 w/o), while Ephraim petitions for the next turn. Maybe "hovered around like a hawk waiting for the next turn" would be more correct. :)  They were both very polite and easy to manage, though, and it was good for Fiona.)

I didn't mean for the puppies to come into the fellowship hall, but they sort of leaked in, and even were included in the children's church service!

Maybe Preacher Russell's text was:  "Go and preach the Gospel to every creature..."

We are so thankful that the Lord weakened the storm and we had no damage.  But we also remember the many who were not so blessed, especially on the islands devastated by this hurricane.  Thank you, all those who prayed for us and for all the people in the path of this monster storm.  Most of all, thanks be to God, Who creates the storms and the good weather, and sends both upon us.