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Hello Friends,
Hurricane season is upon us. Over the years, SHA has weathered many hurricanes; yet, most have brought little more than what an average thunderstorm would bring. Now, Helene was literally upon us—yet, nothing like those poor souls north of us!
Hell-ene
All of our SHA kids and staff are safe from what could have easily been a major disaster. Trees/limbs are everywhere—on top of cars and buildings too. Compared to those just north of us, however, we are blessed. We have friends and relatives in Virginia and North and South Carolina who were adversely affected, but they too are safe and sound compared to many of their neighbors. From our rear deck, we can see many of the mountains in the Carolinas that were hit so hard. Back at SHA, two staff vehicles were victims of a downed tree. One was actually a brand new car that became a total loss. As I write, there’s still a tree on our old mobile home that our daughter, Alexa, lives in with her husband, Jeremiah, and their 3 little terrorists—angels actually. When the storm’s eye went directly over the top of SHA, we felt a short calm, but then got slammed again. Still, we fared well compared to others.
When the Lights Went Out in Georgia
Last month I told you about my conviction to slow down, as I’m not a spring chicken anymore. Yet, I felt the storm allowed me to apply the “mulligan” that Jesus seemed to offer us when He spoke of “pulling our ox out of a ditch on the Sabbath”. Around midnight on 9-26-24, as a steady rain fell, our power went out. Beth and I now live on an isolated hill that sometimes requires 4WD to get here even on good days. We have a well; so, when power goes out, so does our water, which means no toilets either. Just 17 days after hip replacement surgery, I found myself hobbling in the dark to gather rainwater in buckets for our toilets. As the storm grew more intense, Beth and I grew more concerned about our infrastructure—particularly our bridges. So, there was no sleeping—just praying, planning, adapting, and anticipating. Right before sunup on the 27th, I felt I had to assess our 3-culvert bridge that crosses Gumlog Creek. This is the bridge we use to get to campus via our creepy quarter-mile long driveway we call River Road. Much of River Road was blocked with downed trees—but, mostly big limbs. My Jeep has a bright LED light in the front of it. It also has a big utility bumper in front. So, I used it to plow through, over, under, and around, as much compromised timber and foliage as I could until I finally made it to the bridge. I could see that it was being bombarded with raging water and debris—most of it breaching both ends of the bridge, with some going over the top. Thankfully, the bridge held like a stonewall. Even if I dared cross the bridge, a huge tree on the opposite bank wouldn’t allow me to get to campus. So, I backed up and took our muddied and waterlogged easement in the other direction to Pleasant Hill Circle. Without the Jeep I never would have made it through the easement, which allowed me to make the 5-mile trek, via the highway, back to campus to check two other bridges. That’s where the grace of the Lord would deliver me from myself.
The Ox and the Ditch
These 2 bridges cross 2 different streams about 30 feet from one another, where the water in each is usually only about a foot deep, if that. But, now, the raging water was over my head, and only about an inch from the bottom of the bridges. I had to cross the first bridge on foot to adequately see and assess the second; because, neither was built to safely sustain much more than an ATV. To avoid standing water at my left front, I exited my Jeep, and went around the back of it to get to the bridge. That’s when the Jeep began moving by itself toward the canyon of raging water just to the left of the bridge. In my haste, I had failed to put the Jeep in park! Then, in a single swift motion, I lunged for the passenger door, opened it, and did a swan dive across the front seats, pushing my right hand hard against the brake pedal. Thank God the Jeep stopped. With my left arm now trapped under my body, it didn’t take long for my right arm to get fatigued against the brake pedal. In the darkness, I tried to spot the ignition switch, but didn’t dare release the brake pedal to find it. I eased up once, and the Jeep began to move again. I could see the shifter; but, releasing the brake would not allow a rolling Jeep to go into park. Asking for Divine assistance, I paused to think. That’s when—by the dim dashboard lights—I saw an emergency brake lever right under my chin! I don’t recall ever using it; but, taking my hand off the brake pedal to pull up on it was a gamble I had to take. Exhausted, and in pain, I let go of the brake, and the Jeep began moving until I pulled up on the emergency brake. It stopped about 15 feet from the roaring gulch. If it hadn’t worked, I would have had my final swim. So, I became the ox who, on any other day, would have been in a ditch rather than a roaring gulch. Thank you Lord for your incredible mercy!
Parent Conference
If you’ve followed our newsletters over the years you know SHA Parent Conferences always bring trials the week before. Our Fall conference starts tomorrow as I write. In addition to all that Helene brought our way this week, the state of Georgia is, right now, giving us a surprise visit of inspection—right before the day Parent Conference begins! But, always having our ducks in a row, I have full faith in our team that this Parent Conference will end up being one of the best—despite routine enemy attacks.
Heads Up
It seems that forever, I’ve been calling out the pure evil that’s been foisted upon the good work and people of SHA on so many fronts. But, over the past year, it’s been amped up exponentially. There’s always been the routine sins of fallen humans. But, then there’s a degree of evil that comes straight from the pit. It makes the average sinner look saintly. Why? Because, this evil is insidious and calculated for maximum effect—a malice aforethought against godly people, who sacrifice themselves daily to bring about what so many grateful parents would call miracles. If you recognize the good people who are doing a great work at SHA, please be on the look out for a much more detailed and personalized letter from me. We need to be in solidarity against a tide that is now using artificial intelligence (AI) to promote Satan’s agenda against effective works for the Kingdom around the world—this includes SHA. Not to confront this evil will only produce more people willing to be duped into believing that good is evil and evil is good. In John 16:2, Jesus even warns, “Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is doing a service to God!” That hour may be here. Please help us to be more than conquerors—in Jesus name! Amen!