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    Seek Shelter: Stories to Soothe Your Spirit During Natural Disasters
    Seek Shelter: Stories to Soothe Your Spirit During Natural Disasters
    Seek Shelter: Stories to Soothe Your Spirit During Natural Disasters
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    Seek Shelter: Stories to Soothe Your Spirit During Natural Disasters

    By Daphne Tarango, Veronica Berry, Carl Colbert and

    ()

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    About this ebook

    You will encounter at least one natural disaster in your lifetime—directly or indirectly. Your natural reaction will be to seek shelter. And yet, the very thing you seek can feel most elusive.

    How do you cope in the wake of natural devastation? How can you recover? Will life ever be the same? Can any good ever come from something so bad?

    Seek Shelter is a collection of inspirational stories by authors who have uncovered the good in the rubble of natural disasters. Hurricanes. Blizzard conditions. Wildfires. Tornadoes. From the most violent side of nature can sprout rest, comfort, and peace.

    Seek Shelter offers you:
    •Light-hearted stories to soothe your spirit
    •Scriptures to settle your internal struggles
    •Suggestions on how to stay encouraged after the storm

    Some of the writers in Seek Shelter have had to seek physical shelter from natural disasters while others have not. But all have sought shelter from life’s storms in the warmth of family and friends—even strangers—and most of all, God.

    Seeking shelter? Stay with us a while.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDaphne Tarango
    Release dateMay 9, 2018
    ISBN9780463312827
    Seek Shelter: Stories to Soothe Your Spirit During Natural Disasters
    Author

    Daphne Tarango

    Daphne Tarango is a freelance writer who comforts hurting women with the comfort she has received from God. Daphne inspires women to take biblical steps to personal growth and freedom. She also writes about her struggles with chronic illness and pain.Daphne's work has appeared in Just Between Us, {in}courage (a division of DaySpring), Living Better 50+, The Gabriel, Inspired Women Magazine, Ruby for Women, Rest Ministries, and Mentoring Moments for Christian Women. Daphne contributed three chapters in the compilation Women of the Secret Place (Ambassador International, 2012). The thankfulness journal, Dragonflies, Ketchup, and Late-Night Phone Calls, is her first book.Daphne speaks at recovery events. She was a leader in a local Christ-centered recovery program, where she facilitated open-share and step study groups.Daphne lives in the Southeastern United States. She retired from corporate life at a Fortune 500 company to become a stay-at-home mom. She is the President of Lakeland Christian Writers, a chapter of American Christian Writers (ACW).Daphne enjoys solitude; nature walks; journaling; experimenting in the kitchen; the arts; and spending time with her newlywed husband, her three children, their basset hound Dudleigh, and ornery Kitty-Kitty too.

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      Book preview

      Seek Shelter - Daphne Tarango

      I dedicate this book to my Lord and Savior,

      Jesus Christ,

      to all those

      who have experienced natural disasters,

      and to Kitty-Kitty.

      Acknowledgments

      I am indebted to the many people who encourage, motivate, and support me in my writing efforts.

      To my co-authors: Thank you for embracing my vision and jumping on the opportunity to encourage others with your writing. Thank you for your feedback and support in all aspects of this project.

      To our editor: Thank you for sharing your expertise with us. We appreciate your patience, flexibility, and gentle critique of our work. Thank you for elevating our words to their ultimate potential.

      To Suzanne Williams: Thank you for the lovely cover design. You captured our vision for the book from the initial draft. May God continue to bless your talents and your business.

      To my husband: Thank you for encouraging this effort from the moment I mentioned it in the driveway after a hurricane. Thank you also for contributing your own story to our collection.

      To my children: Thank you for making our life an adventure and adding to the inspiration for a lot of my ideas.

      Introduction

      When I started this book project in September, I had already counted 77 natural disasters across the globe on ReliefWeb. Seventy-seven in less than one year.

      Flooding in Honduras and Nigeria. Volcanic eruptions in Indonesia. Earthquakes in Mexico and the Philippines. Mudslides in Sierra Leone. Forest Fires in Tunisia and California. Hurricanes in the Caribbean and the United States. And too many tornadoes to even count.

      Florida had just experienced Hurricane Irma, not even a month after Hurricane Harvey had pummeled Texas.

      The images on television and social media weren’t isolated to specific areas of the world. Regardless of country, natural disasters toppled houses like wooden blocks. Women and children roamed the streets with dirt-covered faces. The elderly dug through rubble for their belongings. Pets waded through floodwaters to dry ground.

      As the weeks passed, the number of natural disasters kept increasing, and I kept updating the total in the introduction to this book. By the time this book went to press, there were 90 natural disasters listed on ReliefWeb in 2017.

      Natural disasters affect everyone—directly or indirectly.

      Hurricane Irma spared our home as the eye came straight through our city. But we had truckloads of debris to pick up on our property. As we picked up limbs and downed branches, we stopped for a break. We still had no power, so we sat on lawn chairs in the driveway. It was cooler outside than in our ranch-style house.

      What do you think about writing a book for people going through natural disasters? I asked my husband.

      That’s an excellent idea, he replied without missing a beat.

      My vision for this project was to assemble a group of writers who would write inspirational stories related to natural disasters. My concern? We were still recovering from the hurricane. Friends and family were still recovering. Would anyone want to collaborate while they were still cleaning up, waiting for power, displaced?

      You should do it, my husband urged me.

      I contacted my network of writers at Lakeland Christian Writers, a chapter of the American Christian Writers Association. Without hesitation, fellow writers volunteered to encourage others with their personal stories about natural disasters.

      Seek Shelter is the result of our efforts. These pages include inspirational messages and stories that will soothe your spirit in the aftermath of natural devastation.

      Writers from all walks of life share their stories in Seek Shelter. Teachers. Tradesmen. Ministers. Business analysts. Graphic designers. Homemakers. Entrepreneurs. Retirees. Some of us have had to seek physical shelter from natural disasters; others have not. All of us have sought shelter from life’s storms in the warmth of family and friends, sometimes strangers, and most of all, God. We pray our stories encourage you through our shared experiences.

      In addition to our stories, we’ve included Scriptures from the Bible and suggestions on how to stay encouraged during storms and disasters.

      We welcome you to Seek Shelter.

      ~Daphne Tarango

      "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

      I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’

      Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

      He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

      Psalm 91:1-4

      But Dad…

      Daphne Tarango

      Do you guys know what a natural disaster is?

      Our three children sat on the sofa staring at us like we’d called on them in class.

      Is it like the movie Twister? asked our 12-year-old. She reverts to talking like a baby when she feels vulnerable.

      Yes, sort of.

      Berto, our precocious 9-year-old chimed in, sure of his answer. It’s when the earth becomes violent in a hurricane, earthquake, or volcano.

      That’s right.

      My husband and I explained to them that the hurricane we’d been watching on television for the past week was not a movie. It was real, and it was headed toward our area.

      Have you guys ever been in a natural disaster like a hurricane?

      I don’t think so, said Lizzie in a baby voice again.

      We don’t know what our children have been through in their lives. But that’s part of the package when you adopt any child. We adopted three siblings. By that September afternoon, they’d been with us five years.

      To our knowledge, there was never a father figure in their lives. A leader, provider, protector. It’s no wonder they attached themselves to my husband almost immediately. They felt sheltered for the first time in their lives. And now, they were facing storms of uncertainty, again.

      We laid out a plan for the impending hurricane.

      We’re not staying here, I told them.

      We’re not? asked our 13-year-old, J.J.

      My husband continued, No.

      Lizzie and Berto started fidgeting.

      We’re going to the north side of town to Mr. Patrick and Mrs. Stephanie’s house.

      But Dad, what about the animals?

      My husband and I looked at each other. Well, I said, We’re taking them with us.

      All of them?

      The dogs are coming with us.

      All three of them?

      Yes.

      And the cats?

      The cats are staying here. They’ll be fine in the house, my husband assured them.

      But Dad, don’t they have a dog? What if their dog doesn’t like our dogs? What if they get in a fight? asked Berto.

      I jumped in, We’ll have to figure that out when we get there.

      I have it all taken care of—I’ve already talked to Mr. Patrick about it.

      But Dad, why can’t we stay here? inquired J.J.

      We tried to explain to them that although our house is made of cement block and brick—unlike most of the wood houses in our neighborhood, old oak trees canopy our entire property. Limbs spider-web our roof and backyard. It’s a haven for our cats, squirrels, and even a couple hawks and owls.

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