I have had many friends ask me to write “our story”…because in the past five years we have seen God work in unthinkable ways. We have seen God do miraculous things. Our eyes have been opened to a very real God. However, it never begins as so. Often when God begins to be up to something good, you think it is something very, very bad…

It was unsettling. Like God had thrown our family into a martini shaker and was rattling our life around. Pieces of our lives slowly began to fall apart….

Living in a suburb of Houston, we had been through many previous hurricane warnings. I packed up the kids along with our most precious belongings, wondering if this time the meteorologists would get it right. My husband, Coby, would be required to stay behind to work on the “ride out” team at the local children’s hospital. He is a pediatric emergency physician and anytime there was a threat of looming danger; he needed to work. Believe me, there is an eery feeling driving away from your home wondering what will survive.

Little did we know that this would be the beginning of a momentum shift in our lives. We had no idea what was coming around the next bend.

Our exit strategy was to head to Austin. My in-laws had a second home there. Of course, traffic was fierce. Three kids in tow, a smelly dog, and an anxious heart. Evacuating a metropolis is never an easy feat. We sat. And we sat. And we sat. I thought we had a jump start on everybody else, but it seemed like everyone had a leap on me. Finally taking a step into the front door, I felt the pains of complete exhaustion.

Although it was mid-September 2008, the heat and humidity were grueling. Temperatures were hovering over 100 degrees. You could fry an egg on a driveway. Trust me. We would’ve tried–but there wasn’t a lick of food in the house. We were expecting an oasis when we arrived, but quickly discovered much less. My only desire was to tuck my kids into bed and decongest my thoughts. However, to my dismay, my in-law’s air conditioner was broke. It was a smoldering sauna inside the walls and opening the windows only let the mosquitos in for a fresh bite of juicy blood. After a marathon car ride, the kids were on edge. Honestly, I was miserable. I had to think of a Plan B.

I filled the jacuzzi size tub up with cool water and dumped in the kids. I only wanted to make a quick call to my husband to let him know we arrived. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my five-year-old son up to some serious antics. He decided to see if he could make a bridge across the looming waters below. Slick conditions. Tired mama. Hospital trip…more to come…