Well, we made it out of The Bates Motel alive and unscathed. If you are wondering ‘what the heck’, here’s the last blog post about it: “What is that smell?” Sketchy Motels: Hurricane Ida Evacuation Saga Continues

What an experience! We made it to the new room and visited civilization in the form of The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, T.J. Maxx, and Walmart yesterday. I didn’t purchase anything, but it was just lovely to be surrounded by sprinkled sugar, Rae Dunn mugs labeled “Mug”, and farmhouse decor.

We bought some detergent from Walmart to wash clothes at our new place. It’s incredible what an upgrade can do for the morale even though we found humor in the absurd. There are no holes in the wall, the doors shut (and open!), and we have a phone in the room. The staff here is friendly, and we slept with both eyes closed last night. I slept with earplugs because I am still surrounded by snoring, but at least I wasn’t paranoid.

Although, I was “one of those people”. After working in customer service for years, I learned that people do not read any sign you put out no matter how loud they are. I learned to put distracting items on them to catch people’s attention to see the dancing koala and then see the pool closed. The cute koala telling them diffuses the situation so they do not yell at you for the inconvenience. Working in customer service was a giant social experiment for me. However, I learned nothing because I brought my waffle from the continental breakfast back to the room. I knew this was a sin because my family jumped all over me about the signs everywhere telling me not to leave the area with my food. I was half asleep and didn’t see it. Their reactions made it seem as if I robbed a bank. I felt terrible, but not that bad. “Oh well”. I was ‘one of those people today.

We are hoping to go home soon, but I want to share something I find amazing in the meantime.

Without sharing details, I will say a close friend of mine is going through a trial. This friend is strong, has been with me through all my ‘garbage’, and always knows what to say. At the moment, they are not whom they are used to being. They are broken, without words, and in their eyes weak. They are not speaking to anyone, but they are talking to me. I realized during this evacuation I have been given “time” I would not have otherwise. When working or living on the hamster wheel, I have a window of ‘nothing to do’ and can answer if this friend calls. I write these lengthy blogs, but in real life get tongue-tied as I am much better at sharing my thoughts after marinating them through writing than speaking out loud in live time.

During this time, I’ve understood my friend is calling me because of my relationship with Christ. They know who I am and where I stand, and it’s not because of me. When I do not have words to say because I’m genuinely at a loss, I pull out my bible and start reading scriptures. At one point, after mass hysteria, they stopped crying and said, “ok, I’ll talk to you later”.

The peace that surpasses all understanding.

When they were hysterical, and I prayed for peace, I realized only ONE could comfort them in this time. I do not have words, but The Creator of the universe gave us an entire book of His words.

The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the Word of God will last forever.

I read through Isaiah, Ephesians, 2 Corinthians, Ezekiel, and various others. When I’m not reading them outloud, I text them as they come to mind because right now, this is where God has her. He has my dear friend to Himself and is comforting them as only He can.

There’s nothing to big or powerful for Him. The other blessing to come out of this, because God doesn’t waste anything, is showing ME who I AM in Him because I have questioned it within the last few weeks. I haven’t had the time to read as I used to, and I’ve just been so busy and felt overwhelmed with so much change at once. But, it’s now He is showing me where I turn in times of trouble.

Anyway, I am sitting in our new place and plan on continuing recreating the items I find on the internet. Is that stealing? I am unsure. There’s a sale at Walgreens and I have Photoshop.

The laundry room, gym, and pool are right across the hall from us so there is potential there as well.

I am hoping to go home soon and am incredibly thankful we have a home to return to. There are so many who lost everything.

Until next time here is the image of a Walmart find yesterday.