Some years ago I was a wreck. I was depressed, heartbroken and all I wanted to do was stare
into space and weep. I was angry also at what I perceived as another betrayal in my life. I just wanted to be happy and content but it seemed it was elusive. I was not in the spiritual growth path that much or I am sure things would have been a little easier for me. I was still in my victim thinking years. I felt so empty and I didn’t have any direction.
This particular day I was sitting on the back porch overlooking a beautiful lake. It is evident that I wasn’t practicing gratitude because I had so much to be grateful for. The porch was connected to a beautiful house with a divine lake view. I had friends and money in the bank and I was healthy. When you have a broken heart you don’t think of those things.
There was also a hurricane on the way but you couldn’t see it by what the morning was showing. The sun was out and the sunrise was showing a glorious palate of colors. I was living in Florida at the time
and hurricanes were a normal threat during the season. This one was going to be a doozie if it came near Tampa and it did. I had battened down and put away everything I could and I had never felt more alone. It looked like I was going to ride this one out by myself.
As the day wore on and I listened to the weather reports I knew I was in for it. The wind was picking up
and I was very happy that I had stocked up on candles, batteries and food that didn’t need to be refrigerated. The weather did little to improve my mood. It was just something else to be unhappy about.
In my depressed state I didn’t care what happened to me. I had asked God to please take away the pain I was feeling because it was unrelenting. It felt like a rock was living in my chest.
People on the coast were being evacuated and I was far enough inland that I didn’t need to get out but it was still dangerous. I was not in a flood zone. Nevertheless, I watched the lake level rise above anything I had ever seen because of the unrelenting rain that had come with the wind. The wind was horrendous.
It whipped the trees around like they were rag dolls and it blew in all directions. I saw roof tiles flying around from someone’s roof (maybe mine) and a lawn chair I had forgotten went sailing by.
After a time the power was lost and I was prepared so I turned on a battery powered radio and listened to some soothing music. It wasn’t too long after that that the winds died down and stopped. The eye of the hurricane was going over. In the eye it is very calm until the rest of the hurricane passes over. It is only a brief respite from what is still coming.
I opened the sliding doors and went out on the porch and the silence was eerie. Then I heard something that sounded like a bird in distress. It didn’t surprise me because of the storm. I wondered where the birds go when there is a hurricane. I kept hearing it and it was a pitiful sound. I decided to investigate.
I walked around the yard and followed the sound and that is when I found her. I had a utility building on my property that was on a raised platform. There was a wet kitten just under the edge of it. Her eyes weren’t even open yet. I was amazed that she had made it through all the wind and chaos. I picked her up and took her into the house and wrapped her in a towel and proceeded to get her dry. the whole time she cried. She was hungry…very hungry and cold. I held her against my chest and wrapped my hands around her until I could feel her body warm up. She slowly stopped shivering and meowed and purred a bit and started crying again
.
This little bit of life was lucky as I knew just what to do. I had everything I needed because of a baby squirrel incident about 4 months previously. I prepared her some milk in the tiniest of bottles and put it to her mouth. She sucked away ravenously. I watched her previously flat stomach plump up. I decided to call her Harriet. I found a box and made Harriet a bed and filled it with soft old towels and put her to bed. She had already gone to sleep with the bottle in her mouth. Pretty soon the other half of the storm roared over. I almost didn’t notice it because I was busy with this tiny little fluff of life. After a few feedings she was not content to go right back into her box. She wanted to be held. I would hold her next to my heart wrapped in dish towel and she would purr her heart out and go to sleep. After two days she opened her eyes and looked at me for the first time. My heart melted. I had bonded with her through caring for her. That was also the first time I knew that I had not thought about the pain I had felt and that it was gone. It was gone the moment I picked her wet trembling body up.
In the act of caring for another my pain was forgotten. God had answered me just not in the way I expected. I had asked and I received. I took her to my vet and it was confirmed that she was a Harriet and not a Harry. She was healthy and unscathed by the storm. My vet said that it was divine timing that I found her when I did and that she was so lucky. In my heart I knew that I was the lucky one and that she had found me. I was sent exactly what I needed to pull me out of the blackness I had been in. It didn’t return either. During the storm and caring for Harriet I had realized many things. Helping someone else will bring you out of almost any dark mood. We are to help each other even if it is only a smile to someone who is frowning. We are not in this world alone even if it may seem that way at times. More importantly, God is here now, always. If ever I doubted there was a God, the doubt evaporated on the day Harriet arrived during the hurricane. I thought back on all the times I had called out to God for help
and knew that I had received it every single time. I am so grateful for the experience of the little hurricane angel. This is just something to think about.
Tags: betrayal, broken heart, caring for another, depressed state, emptiness, God answered, hungry kitten, hurricane, spiritual growth