Special Episode: Hurricane Milton Weathering the Storm

If we're not walking in those things, then when life storms hit, then, man, you are thrown for a loop, and you've got nothing.

Exactly.

To go. Oh, well, that's okay, because God's already put this in place. Or, that's okay. I know that this feels really wild and out of control, but I know that there's a God that I can trust. I know that there's a truth that I can stand on. I'm okay. I'm not comfortable. I'm not having fun, but I'm okay.

Well, hello again, and welcome to the Trim the Wick podcast. I'm, Dan.

And I'm Becky.

And we are with you with a special edition of the Trim the Wick podcast.

Is that what we're calling it?

That's what we call it. this is the. No, power recovering from Hurricane Milton edition.

But wait, if you have no power, how are you recording a podcast?

Because of lithium batteries.

There you go.

Yeah. We're sitting here. we weathered the storm that came through a couple days ago, but, we are without power. But you know what? That's not gonna stop us.

No, it's not.

No. Just because there's no electricity, we thought we just have, a special edition. Milton edition.

Because microphones have it.

Yeah, it's still recording. I can still see it recording, but it's not on this, which means my computer's gonna crash here in just a second.

Okay. So, welcome to the special. Part of the special edition is that we've had a lot of things like that in the past 48 hours since Milton showed up on our shores, is that, you know, you kind of get started doing something, you're like, I think it's. I think we're gonna be able to do it this way. And then, oh, nope, it's not working anymore. You know, a lot of those kind of things. Yeah.

and that's one of the things with. When you go through these storms, it's the, There's a lot of unofficial things that happen. You know, you prepare for certain stuff and you put everything together, but then, you know, all of a sudden, you realize it was something you missed.

or the resource itself has just kind of run out like that with your computer. We've had them on chargers, and we've had backup battery, and we've had. But eventually those things run out.

Yeah. You know, we were talking about how, you know, the importance things of preparing and having that stuff set aside.

Right.

And we were looking at, you know, prime example, our refrigerator and we did something this year that we haven't done in, storm pass is we bought little, waters. Not so much for this, but we.

Were like, we just had them.

Hm.

In the house. They've been here for a few weeks.

Yeah. So what we did is we put the little waters in the freezer.

Right.

And froze the little water. So we had all these little, like.

Little eight ounce water bottles.

Yeah. Little ice. Ice bombs, I guess what we call them. And, so when the power went out, we put those in the refrigerator and it just helps keep the refrigerator colder longer because there's now these little ice things. And the thing is, when they melt, they're just bottles of water.

Yep.

So they don't go. So they don't make a big mess like just putting like a big bag of ice in your refrigerator. so, but little things like that and being able to have a peace of mind.

Right.

That you're preparing stuff. You know, I know every year we live in Florida, everyone. So every year we know hurricanes are gonna happen. We know, even if we don't get a hurricane, we're gonna get some thunderstorms. We're gonna lose power for a couple hours or, or longer, like in this situation. Yeah, exactly. A couple days. So you just roll with it. But you need to be prepared.

Right. So there are some things, because we know where we live every single year at the beginning of hurricane season in June, there are just certain things that we make sure we have.

Right.

There is always a rotating stock of canned goods. There is always a rotating stock of water. There's always a rotating stock of paper goods. Because, y'all, paper towel and toilet paper are a thing.

Yes.

there's always paper plates, disposable utensils, because nobody wants to wash dishes if you're out of power. And sometimes we lose water as well as power. So you don't want to have to be doing dishes. Just simple things like that. That it has just become part of the lifestyle of living in Florida that you live in preparation for certain things to happen.

I like to think about as in, you know, preparing and just being able to make sure that simple things, if you prepare, make difficult times easier.

Right.

We're not scrambling around looking for this and that. You know, we knew where stuff was. We have stuff. We.

Yeah, there's always candles, there's always battery powered lighting sources. There's. Yeah, we, we have those. We know that the likelihood of needing them exists. And so we just. You're prepared and then, then it's not a stressor.

Right. And that's one of the things I'm thinking of is that storms are already a stressor. And this one, we're going to talk about that in a second, but this one was a little bit of a stressor and we're talking about how this.

Was a good one, how that, you.

Know, on our scale, we've been through I don't know how many storms between Texas and here, but, this one was one that was, it was a doozy. Yeah. This was one that we knew was going to cause some damage and, and stuff. But having those little things and I think translating this into life also little things that you prepare in advance, little things that you make sure you set aside, boy, it brings the stress down.

The physical is always a manifestation of the spiritual, right? So it's true in our spiritual lives and it goes, it goes all the way to the name of this podcast, trim the wick.

Right. And I think that's also the big thing to think about is that, you know, this is not a fun experience.

No.

You know, we are having moments where we get to laugh and we're and tease and we're having, you know, meeting some of our neighbors and stuff like that and get to laugh. But I mean, overall, going through the storm m and everything else, that's not fun.

No, this is not the experience anybody signs up for and goes, this is what I want to spend my vacation days on.

Yeah, I want my house and home to be in the spot where it could possibly be wiped out forever. That's not volunteer for that. But when you're prepared, when you have things set up in your life just like we did for the storm, you get through these things, they're more bearable. And what I love about it. And this is for us. This is where we get joy, is that we get to help other folks. We get to help other people. When you're already prepared, you can go, okay, my stuff's taken care

And that's what we're meant to be as the body of Christ.

Right?

We're meant to be the ones that go, okay. We are the light that's coming into a dark world. We've already. Our wicks are trimmed. Our oil is flowing up into that wick beautifully. Our flames are lit. Now let's go do this thing. When other people are stumbling around in darkness, staggering around, cutting themselves on sharp things because they don't see that it's there, you can be the one that comes into the situation and goes, you know what?

Yes.

Life's just not easy. Stuff happens, y'all.

Yeah. There is gonna be storms in your life, period.

Yep.

And being prepared helps you, number one, get through it. But again, it also helps when other folks are going through their storms as well. And that's one of the things I love with what we do with trim the wick. You know, that's our. That's one of our heart things, is that we're bringing light into dark spaces. We are being able to walk into a place that, you know, you normally wouldn't go because it is dark.

Right.

And you bring the light into it. Okay, so I want to talk a little bit here about the storm itself.

Okay.

So we knew that this one was going to be a doozy. And we had been looking at it and kind of preparing, you know, getting prepared and stuff, and we didn't know if it was going to hit us north, south or if we were just going to be directly in the middle of it.

There was a point. I've even got a picture of it. There was a point when the tracking forecast. And it was. It was within 24 hours of landfall, so it was a, you know, things were kind of dialing in pretty tight. There was a point when our local news put up the track and zoomed in close to the center line. And so how. When they zoom in close to the map and all the cities show up and literally on the center line of the map was our

Because even though we've been through a lot of these storms, we did have a storm go directly over us, but we weren't there.

We had actually, we had evacuated.

Evacuated because we were living on the coast at that time. But this one we thought for sure it was going to come right over us. And so we were prepared for it and it went a little south of us, which meant we got the ugly. We actually got the ugly of the storm.

Yeah. Again, the weirdness of this storm, that top side of the storm was pretty intense.

Yeah. And we explain to people that because like I said, we've been through a couple of them, they're like you just lay in bed or you're sitting there and you're just, everything was off. We lost power and everything's off and you're just listening. And you're listening to the whistling and the howling of what's going on around you and everything else. But what I think is interesting is listening to all the sounds of this cracking and creaking and something

Yeah. Because it wasn't like if you've ever watched hurricane footage, a lot of times you'll have pieces of metal that just are ripped off all in one fell swoop and they go flying.

Right.

That is not what this shed roof did. It peeled back on itself. It was like one of those old fashioned can openers.

We could hear it.

It peels back a little bit and then a little bit more.

And so we were hearing that. And then every once in a while you would hear a different sound. So you would lay in bed and you were like, okay, I know what that sound is doing. I know what that sound is now. Okay, what's that sound? And you just lay in bed and it's fun, how your mind kind of goes. And you're putting together everything on your back porch, everything in your backyard and you're going, what would make that sound if it was slay and something else?

Yeah, you do.

And in the storm you are. Because we had no power, so lights were off. Nobody. Was moving around because lights was off.

And it was just, what are you gonna do? We all just went to bed.

Yeah. So we're laying in bed and you're just laying there, but you're awake.

Right.

You know, obviously you're, you know, if you can sleep, you know, power to you, but you're just laying there and you're so in tune to everything you hear.

Yeah.

And, putting a parallel to that with sometimes in our own life, when we're going through the trials and a storm in our own lives, it's not that God stops talking.

No.

It's that it gets so loud, we stop listening or we get involved. We're thinking, we gotta fix it. In this situation where we were able just to just lay there and just be quiet, we could be in tune with everything we were hearing.

Yeah. Well, that's what's interesting about that is, up to that point, we had the newscast running in the background.

Right.

We were very focused on what they were telling us about what was happening, instead of listening to what was actually happening. Right where we are.

Right.

and I think we do that a lot. You know, it gets loud. You listen to what other people are telling you about what's happening. You listen to what other people are telling you, you about what you should be doing, what other people are saying about this, that and the other. And it's not that advisors are not

Right.

you were in a place where you had to listen to what God was saying to you, right where you were. And you had to trust him, with what he was doing in those places. That now you couldn't know anything about. And there is actually a freedom in that.

Yeah.

It releases you from anxiety, because when you come to the understanding that I can only know what I am directly involved in, I can only hear where I directly am. And anything outside of that realm is God's purview. What it does is it forces you to come into alignment with a truth that already existed. You just weren't agreeing with it. Right.

that is so freeing and liberating. And, it's actually encouraging because we can tap into what God has for us if we just silence the noise. And God speaking to us all the time. He doesn't stop speaking, he doesn't stop guiding us. He doesn't stop directing us. We kind of turn away from him and start listening to the world around us. And we turn away and start listening to the noise.

And getting involved, thinking that we can alter or control something that's so far out of our realm that it's not even funny, but it's firmly within his control and care.

Yep. And even in the midst of a storm, and let me tell you, it was a storm. It was. This was a good one, we started getting the heavy winds. I want to say it was about seven, eight o'clock at night, and it did not stop until about four in the morning.

Yep.

Which is a long time.

Yeah. It's the longest time we've ever been in consistent wind and rain like that for that length of time. Usually, even if you're getting an eye wall and, you know, if you're right in the dead center of a storm, usually it's a. It hits you, it passes through.

Mm

And then you're on the other side of it.

Right.

This thing just kept coming and kept coming and kept coming.

Yeah. It was surprising how long the storm was. And some of you are going through that storm. Some of you, you know, who are listening, you know, this is a, you know, we're talking about a hurricane, but you've got a hurricane in your life, and I want to just, you know, kind of sidestep on this and go, you know, encourage you. Even in the midst of the storm, he's still talking to you.

Yeah.

And even in the midst of the storm, be quiet. Listen to what God has, because God will direct you. And, you know, it was about 230 in the morning when I finally drifted off for a couple hours, you know, fell asleep for a little bit and, woke up and the storm was still raging. But, listen to what he has.

For you and understand that, you know, he is speaking to you in the middle of your storm and some of those noises are probably going to sound scary. Some of the things that he tells you, some of the things that he shows you about what's happening around you, it may feel very, very scary. It may not be things you want to hear. In the middle of the storm, there were things that we heard as Milton was passing through in the dark and in

No.

Sometimes the things that God tells us and speaks to us in the middle of our storms are not fun things, but they are information that he's sharing with us that we need. they are directions that he's sharing with us that are for our good. And some of the things that he allows to be pulled away from us through those storms, are things that help to actually prepare us and set us up for the next steps in our lives.

Yep. Well, and you also realize what's the important things and what's not. You guys, this is, one of those things that we just feel like we've learned by listening through the storms and knowing that the storms of life are going to come and wanted to encourage you with that. I know it's going to be a little shorter one this week, but, we wanted to still reach out and kind of encourage you.

Yeah. Please do, please do be encouraged because just like floridians know that hurricanes are going to happen, if you are alive and breathing, you know, storms are going to come into your life.

That's right.

So live life in a state of preparation.

Yep.

Build that relationship with God. If it's not there yet, keep working on it. Keep listening. and when the storm starts to rage, turn off the newscast and just really listen what he's telling you. Cause he's got something for you in the storm, I promise.

Yep. You know, afterwards, when the dust settles. One of the things that we've loved, is that we have no power. Nobody in our community has power. So everybody's outside.

Yeah.

Everybody's walking around and we're meeting our neighbors again, or, you know, meeting new neighbors and stuff. and it is encouraging to be around other people that will encourage you, that will help you. And again, this is another thing just translates in life, you know, when you're going through something that having a person that's going to encourage you, not tear you down, nothing, point out all the negatives, right, but are actually going to be. You know

And many limbs make light work.

That's right. And we all just jump in and get to work. It is one of those things that's a. It's a shame it takes a storm to open our eyes that we need other people and we need encouragement. But know that it's out there and it's there for you. just like it's been for us this last two days. And we've had a great time meeting some new people and being encouraged. We're going to close it up and like I said, it's going to be a little shorter one than

So before the batteries run completely out.

Yep, yep. Before we're down to zero, we're gonna say goodbye. So we'll be back with you next week, but for now, I guess we'll say goodbye and we'll see you guys next time.

Okay. Love you. Bye.

Love you. Bye.