Hey gorgeous, I’m back!! Hurricane Ida was a slow-moving hurricane; it wreaked havoc on South Louisiana and left some areas unrecognizable: our addictions, past hurts, and traumas can have the same effects on our lives. The storms of life don’t form overnight, they move at different speeds, and their intensity varies depending on what side of the storm you’re on. Looking around at the devastation and destruction left behind in the wake of Hurricane Ida, I feel blessed and truly grateful to have been spared. A 27-mile distance from where the eye passed made a big difference; evacuating saved lives; sometimes, we have to remove ourselves to protect our lives.
We can’t control the weather, but we can pray to the one that does. That’s exactly what my mom did as she watched my life spin out of control in the early years; she got very bold with God and asked Him to either fix me or take me; I was arrested the night she prayed that prayer. Like many of us, she tried to do things in her own strength; things quickly changed once she surrendered her problem to Him.
In the eye of my storm: I began having migraines the day after I buried my dog; a week later, I had my first seizure, the following day, an ambulance rushed me to New Orleans with a severe sinus infection. Two weeks later, I was released from Ochsner’s with staples in my head and an IV-port in my arm because that infection spread to my brain and formed an abscess.
A hurricane’s eye is the calmest part of the storm; the scary part is that all hell breaks loose once the eye passes through. At landfall: I was arrested, faced multiple felony charges, and was court-ordered to rehab for three months in Gauthier, Mississippi (The Home of Grace). When dealing with natural disasters, there aren’t any scenarios where no one gets hurt, and no property is damaged; there are no apps or algorithms to help us predetermine the damage that will be done.
Once we reach our bottom, when we get to the end of ourselves, that’s when we can begin our recovery process. We have to dig through the rubble and start getting rid of the junk: the lies we told ourselves, negative mindset and self-talk, our non-belief, grudges and resentments we held onto, the lack of forgiveness in our hearts—it all has to go. As we clear out the debris, we find things that we forgot we had, some treasures in the dark: our self-worth, self-respect, self-confidence.
My advice to you, sis, is to keep digging that big box of boundaries you misplaced years ago is somewhere in there too, if I had to guess, it’s probably right next to your voice. Once you find your voice, girl, make sure you use it to speak life over yourself and others.
With Love,
💋NR
What type of storms have you faced? What are you currently walking through? (Answer it in the comments)
- Read previous the previous Recovery Glow Up According to Norma post here: Waiting for the Storm to Pass
