Out of the Ashes

My family lost everything in fire, but our #Faith, after surviving  Hurricane Laura....

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August 27 @ 2100 hours
My wife  and I evacuated Oakdale, LA with our kids, her mother and grandmother. Hurricane Laura hit the night before we stayed. Our house was fine we had no damage but there was no power and when they said restoration times would be a week to two weeks we knew we had to go. We packed up and headed toward Dallas Texas because that is one of the places they were routing those of us who had to evacuate. For every hurricane I've experienced, as an adult, I was either an essential Marriott Hotel employee or an essential law enforcement officer. I've never truly experienced the stress, anxiety, and everything else that came with the unknown of what is next. As we maneuvered out of our city, which was a task in itself,  trees were down everywhere. We had to go through someone's grass on their property just to leave our street  because of the two trees that were down. I just have to say thank you God for protecting and providing for me and my family. Thank you to all those in Mesquite, TX that helped the process be less stressful for those of us who had to evacuate. Thank you for the staff in Grapevine, TX for their compassion. So fast forward to one week later September 3rd we finally head back home because guess what...we have electricity and we all wanted our own beds. Hotel life was not for us!. 

September 4th @ 453 hours
I heard a loud crack outside my bedroom window. I turned over because it was 453 and I had just went to sleep at 230 after getting settled in from our evacuation. It made my wife's spine shiver as she recalls. She jumps up a minute later because it is so bright out our window and yells, " Bae it's a fire we got to go". My body goes numb for a split second because I had told my self go back to sleep and at this point I'm perplexed as to how there is a fire on that side of our house because there is an abandoned house next door.  I immediately jumped out of bed running to go get the kids so we can get out. I opened my sons door, and my heart drops. He is laying in a bed that is on fire the window had busted out above his head the fire had already got to his room. I yank him out of the bed by his leg and yell Zai it's a fire we have to get Ari and get out of here. He immediately wakes up because at this point he was still sleep. But when he heard that his sister was in danger he woke up and we ran to her room. He scooped her out the bed while she was sleep and we ran out and my wife was right behind us with our dog. It was on this day my family watched all of our material possessions, including our vehicles, burn away in the fire. Later we were informed the fire was started in the abandon house by some kids who were trespassing on a property. They started a fire to keep mosquitos off of them however, when the fire spread, they fled. They did not call the cops to alert them. They were arrested, confessed and let go because the judge stated they didn't burn our house down on purpose so he had nothing to charge them with. As I type this I think of our black, teenage son who was laying in a bed on fire, and seconds away from burning in this fire. It may not have been on purpose but the intention was there when they didn't notify police or fire dept. so that it could be contained. Instead both houses were burned completely to the ground nothing but a pile of ashes left to see there.

All flames have died. Material possessions have perished. Our Faith in God remains...out of the ashes the Phoenix will emerge!

"We survived because the fire inside of us burned brighter than the fire around us."#OakdaleStrong #LivingWithPurpose