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I’ve mostly lived on the coast since I was born. I remember all the big hurricanes, Bertha, Fran, Floyd, Bonnie, Irene, Florence, Dorian etc. There were a few more in there I forgot the names of. When I was a kid, a big storm coming was an exciting thing. The power would go out, the winds and rain beat against our strong house where we were safe inside. We would have to “rough it” for a bit. It was a sense of pride to know that I had lived through that intense weather, and I loved that surviving hurricanes was a part of who I was.
That all changed when I started a farm.
The hardest part of hurricane season for me now is the 2 or 3 days before the storm makes landfall, looking around at all my hard work, the beautiful crops in the field, the tidy pasture shelters where my chickens live, my greenhouses that protect our freshly planted seeds, and wondering how much damage they are all going to take. Any sustained wind over 60-70mph will almost certainly burn the leaves of all the garden crops, killing the plants (including hemp). If we don’t have very severe winds, it’s early enough that our hemp may grow back well enough to harvest. Pasture shelters must be moved to the barn or tied down but will probably have the roofs torn up. The hoop house plastic must be removed or the wind will remove it for me. Thankfully we have a new barn roof, but prior to that I would take a guess as to what percentage of it will be missing when I return. Floods may leave some animals stranded. My single wide mobile home isn’t as strong as the one I grew up in so there’s that. All that to say, the only way i can stand up and move forward with confidence is holding on to one single truth.
God is the maker and sovereign King of heaven and earth. He doesn’t just give “mother nature” a license to do as she pleases. God controls the wind and the seas. He gives everything life, including me and the farm I’m in charge of. He also has my ultimate good in mind when He sends the storms. So even though i may grieve and struggle with worry in the face of a storm (i mean this literally but it also applies to other figurative storms of life), I do it with hopeful expectation that the outcome isn’t simply destruction and setbacks. I’ve got to back up and see my life and the events it contains as part of something much bigger than a hurricane. Now, I don’t know all the details of how it’s working for my good and honestly I don’t want to know, that’s His job. My job is to prepare and adapt in every way I know how and trust Him for my ultimate good.
So, we pull the egg laying hens in the barn, we tie down all the lightweight things. We take the plastic off the hoop houses, fill up the feeders and waterers, get the generator running, consolidate frozen meats, harvest as much produce as we can and hunker down. I’ve often asked myself the question, “why am I still farming in such a vulnerable area?” I keep coming back to the same answer. This is my home, my community, my upbringing and I want my kids to have the “hurricane experience” (half joking on that last one). I love Wilmington and the surrounding area and truthfully, we can’t escape hard things. If it wasn’t hurricanes that threaten my farm it might be fire, tornado, earthquake, a pack of wolves or maybe even murder hornets! No matter what it is, it’s all about keeping perspective, knowing who has your good in mind and moving forward.
