Hello blog fam!

Where to begin! The past 10 days have been a whirlwind following Hurricane Helene.

The upstate of SC and especially our NC mountains were hit hard by the storm. It’s been truly devastating to see the damage across western North Carolina. Through all the tragedy though, there has been hope!

For this month’s “Motivation Monday” post, I’m blogging how we saw lots of light through darkness following the hurricane. Hopefully it will encourage you too!

The day before the storm hit, it felt like a normal day. It was a rainy Thursday and Brewer was so excited about taking his umbrella to school! Haha, it was the highlight of his day!

We went to bed that night expecting lots more rain and maybe some wind.

The next morning (Friday) we woke up to a bigger storm than we anticipated and no power!

Harry is still going to find a way to eat. Lol

We made the most of not having power. I kept telling the boys, “we’re glamping!”

We painted a haunted house.

I had picked this up at Target earlier in the week. It’s only $5 and even has a light inside!

Find it, here: Haunted House Kit!

As the day went on, we started hearing how bad the storm was, especially surrounding Lake Lure and the western North Carolina mountains.

It was heartbreaking to hear & see pictures begin to circulate. We have so many memories and traditions in these very mountains.. we couldn’t believe what we were hearing.

We just kept praying..

“I life my eyes to the mountains- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven & earth.”

Psalm 121: 1-2 🙏

By night, we actually lost cell signal at home. Later we heard, many cell towers were damaged from the storm.

Here I am, feeding baby by the front door with a little light still shining in!

Saturday afternoon, we headed to Charlotte to stay at my sister’s house. My hometown (Clover) had some storm damage and lost power too but Charlotte had very minimal damage. We went to take warm showers and give the boys some normalcy because we truly had no idea when our power would be restored.

It was a full house!

The boys loved spending time with cousin Susie!

Silly cousins

Sunday morning, my sister and I took Brewer & Susie to the Charlotte airport park!

They had the best time playing and watching airplanes.

This was a cool experience for Brew Brew!

✈️

We loved all of the extra time with family but man, our hearts were (and still are) heavy for everyone in the mountains.

After two nights in Charlotte, we headed back home Monday morning to check on things!

Back to “glamping” we go!

This warmed my heart… a coffee bar set up in a neighbor’s driveway!

We saw helicopters constantly flying. We knew some were checking for damage in our area while others were headed straight to the mountains to take supplies.

Glamping was actually nice in a sense that we were disconnected from technology! We spent more time outside, made our own fun with the kids, and went to bed early.

On Tuesday, the big boys went to Lowes and Harry sent me this picture and said, “I thought this would make you happy.” Lol and it did make me very happy!

Off for a walk Tuesday afternoon! We went for extra long walks each day and had so many sweet conversations with neighbors.

Capers also turned 10 months old that day!

We rang in 10 months by candle light and flash light! He was such a trooper throughout it all. It’s been the sweetest 10 months!

Read all about Caper’s latest month, here:

Capers: TEN month update!

Capers actually had a bit of a virus during the power outage so it wasn’t all fun & cozy. But that was the least of our worries. Our hearts just stayed (& still do) so heavy for WNC.

Tuesday was also the start of October. I love ringing in each month with a new monthly milestone with our sweet Capers.

We read a Halloween book with our flashlight!

Wednesday morning, we were back at the neighbor’s coffee bar! Our neighbor had cars out for Brewer to play with. So sweet!

This really did become a special bonding time with neighbors throughout the week.

By mid afternoon on Wednesday, our power was restored! A light came on in the kitchen and we heard our neighbor’s gospel music pop back on in her garage.

We’re so grateful that all we lost was power and groceries in the refrigerator. I can’t imagine the loss and devastation of many others closeby. It makes my heart ache in such an emotional and physical way.

We are very grateful for our first responders. This is what we saw driving around Spartanburg. Bucket trucks from states far and wide, working so hard!

We also saw a lot of this! Relief stations set- up all around town for WNC. This particular one was set- up at our church.

“Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” -Mr. Rogers

We saw so much of this, this week!

~

It was a week of glamping & gratitude! Some mornings, I still wake up thinking, was it all just a dream?

Through darkness though, I saw so much light! We found joy in simplicity with no electricity throughout the storm week, we were able to visit family, & we had extra time outside with neighbors.

It’s also been neat seeing people come together to be the hands & feet of Jesus for our Carolina family, especially for our beautiful mountains. WNC, we love you forever & together we stand 🫶

We know help is greatly appreciated in our beloved mountains. We also know that we serve a God who restores!

🙏🙏🙏