My Heavy Heart

My heart is broken, y'all. Between the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the fires, I'm pretty sure I'm going to spend the week near tears. I've sat and watched fire destroy large amounts of the state I love in the past few days. And it's still burning. People are losing their homes, their lives and there is NOTHING I can do about it. I'd huff and I'd puff if I thought it would help! I'd give up my favorite pair of shoes for Captain Planet's ability to control water and wind! But none of that is possible. And all I can do is watch. It's such a helpless feeling. We can donate money to the victims and supplies to the people at the front lines and that's helping. But it's not calming the flames any. And that's frustrating.

Seeing the interviews of people who had to leave behind all things precious made me start to think about what I would grab if grabbing was all I could do. The idea of making a "Must Grab" list is heartbreaking but humbling and so very grown up. So I'm making one through my tears.

Every time Texas is in the news 'spot light', my pride in my state grows by leaps and bounds. People have lost EVERYTHING yet they never say "woe is me! where is my help?" They stand and shakily say "yea, we've lost everything, but it's just things. we'll rebuild." You don't see shots of people standing around waiting to be rescued. You see shots of people waiting in line to donate cars full of supplies, Facebook posts of addresses where people have opened their homes to strangers needing shelter, people volunteering to help anyway they can.

Because that's what we do - we take care of our own. It doesn't matter what kind of disaster is thrown our way, we take care of our own. Our hearts are already there and we just can't help it.

I'm proud to be a Texan. Bottom line.

I'm praying for the families near the flames, the families through the flames, their animals who are scared and the men and women who are tirelessly working to STOP the flames. I'm praying for strength and encouragement and success. And I can't help but hope for a big giant rain storm. I'd give my favorite pair of shoes for a nice soaking Tropical Storm to blow in tomorrow. But I fear my shoes are safe, there's no rain in sight.

Until next time....