Riding High Amongst the Waves

It’s been a while since I last published my thoughts and advice on my blog.

As many of you know, life threw our family a few stormy seas to cross over throughout the course of the last few months.

And as each wave crashed, I held tightly onto my board. But never did I feel ready enough to come up for one gigantic breath and to emerge from the waves...until now.

Yes, life was a little challenging. God was testing my faith.

And while Matt and I hoped there was some sort of truth to the old superstition – “bad things happen in threes” – we knew that wasn’t truly the way life worked. More importantly, we knew that it wasn’t truly the way God worked.

But we were hoping. We had had our fill of sadness and needed to take a breath. We needed a break from it all.

And then a bigger storm began to brew over the Atlantic – Hurricane Matthew – a hurricane with the same name as my incredibly sweet husband. Seriously? I asked. This must be a joke.

Suddenly my faith was completely rocked.

I wasn’t questioning God because the hurricane was projected to hit West Palm Beach at some point later that week. I found myself asking God, “Why?” while I literally fell to my knees crying while holding tightly to pictures of the children of Haiti– pictures of the children I’ve met, hugged, held, and spoken to – children whose faces are vividly painted in my mind as I think about them while praying for them each and every night.

And while South Florida was preparing for what weathermen promised Hurricane Matthew would bring us, Haiti was about to experience something for which they could have NEVER fully prepared…



Setting: South Florida

A hurricane is coming.

We know because we have televisions and radios. Weathermen are tracking the storm, telling us exactly where the storm is headed and that it’s time to prepare for what’s to come.

And so we do.

If we don’t have hurricane impact windows in our homes, we put up shutters. And if we don’t have shutters, we cover our windows with plywood and nails. A very grueling task.

We go to gas stations and fill up our cars with gas, just in case we need to evacuate to a safer city.

Then we buy water and food to last us for a few days in case the grocery stores are closed due to power outages after the storm.

Batteries are bought in abundance so that we can use flashlights and lanterns should we need them.

And when all preparations are made, we wait.

We wait for the storm to hit by playing board games or cards. And if we are lucky enough to still have power, we watch movies and play on Ipads or computers.

Some of us wait out the storms by going to another city, where we can forget for a few moments what we left behind.

When the power goes out, we light our candles and our lanterns and continue to play our games.

And the winds pick up and so does the rain. And we go to sleep.

Then we wait. And we pray.



Setting: Haiti

A hurricane is coming.

We know because word may have spread throughout the village from someone who may have heard it from someone else who had a radio in the capital city of Port Au Prince.

We know because the winds have picked up and the waves are crashing on the shore.

We know because the tents that we call our homes are flapping in the wind. And our neighbor’s home made of mud and sticks is leaning to and fro.

And so we prepare.

We put down cinder blocks on the corner of our tent homes to hold them down. And if our home is made of a more solid structure, we put cinder blocks on the roofs of our homes, hoping they won’t blow away.

The pelting rain comes down. The vicious winds blow. And we huddle together – our family of 6, holding each other close.

And as the water rises below our feet from the 40 inches of rain that have fallen, the sea also begins to rise.

And the wind picks up. It is so strong that we can barely stand – barely holding onto each other anymore.

Our homes rip apart and the roofs on our neighbors' homes - those built of a more solid structure- are easily torn off and blown into the wind, like a giant has just opened the top of a tin can with his hand.

Darkness ensues. Not because our power went out, but because many of us did not have power in the first place.

And we stay up all night, and we stay up all day – standing because the waters are so high and we cannot sit.

Then we wait. And we pray. 

And while I could only pray, envisioning what was happening to our friends at this moment, my heart literally hurt. I didn’t know it was possible for one’s heart to physically hurt. But it did. And I wept – more tears than I ever knew I had in me.

I wept even more as reports of the devastation in Haiti filled the news and social media.

Then, I was given a wonderful opportunity to speak to the middle school students at the school where I teach.

It was after that talk – after putting things into perspective for the students – that I was finally able to breathe. I was finally able to come up for air.

"So why now?" some may ask. Why, during this great time of sadness in a country that has captured my heart, could I finally breathe?

And I can tell you, truthfully, that I think it’s because after I spoke with my students and I spoke with friends about the situation in Haiti, everything that is good and caring and loving and selfless began to pour out of people in a way like I have never seen.

I received an abundance of emails, texts, and phone calls from people asking how they could help.

Friends and family began contributing to Food for the Poor’s hurricane relief fund. Many contributed beyond their means and comfort zone, with hearts full of a desire to help those less fortunate.

Other friends asked how to organize food drives and collections at their child’s school.

Our church children, teachers, and children’s ministry leader organized and held a bake sale last Sunday to raise money for cows for families in Haiti. And our pastor asked me to speak to the congregation about the current situation and how they can all get involved in helping our neighbors.

As we hold a hurricane relief canned food drive at our school, I am learning that students have been moved to action too. One student asked if she could collect gently loved stuffed animals for the children of Haiti. And I’m finding out that many of our students have been running their own lemonade stands to raise money for the relief fund.

I am overwhelmed by the love and prayers that are filling the air.

My heart - that was literally hurting as a result of the hurricane and so much that preceded it - is now full of so much warmth as I see how much other people care.

And what’s more? They care for people whom they have never met or embraced. And there is just something so incredibly heartwarming about that.

Yes, I’ll admit it. I’ve questioned God. I think we all have at some point in our lives. And I don’t think we will ever truly know the reasons why anything happens in this lifetime. I trust that one day we will find out.

But what I do know is that I’m glad I held onto my board over these last few months.

And I’m glad that I finally emerged from the waves. Because if I hadn’t, I never would have been riding high amongst the waves, in a place where I could witness that hope really does float.

It floats for me. It floats for you. And it certainly floats for the people of Haiti.

We would love to see you at “Hope Floats,” an afternoon of family fun and dock fishing, swimming, and BBQ, at the Sailfish Club in Palm Beach THIS Sunday, October 23rd, from 3-7:00, where we will raise money for housing for our friends living in a tent village next to a trash heap. Read more about the event and purchase your tickets at: foodforthepoor.org/hopefloats.

If you want to make a monetary donation to hurricane relief or read more about our work in Haiti, through Food for the Poor, visit my Champion’s page at: foodforthepoor.org/chrissieferguson.