In the Eye of the Storm (Part 1)

It's hard to believe that this picture was taken about 1 year ago. This Mia (right hand side in white sweater), Pamela (in the middle) and Mia's husband! Mia and her husband own "Seven Stars Beauty Supply" just off of Murray Road in Beaverton. If you read my last post, this is also the place I took my friend Becky.

I brought my "new" friend Pamela with me to enjoy some much needed pampering for the day! Pamela's story is amazing. You see she is a Hurricane Katrina survivor. My friend Bev and I had been praying for an opportunity to help some of the people we were seeing on TV after the storm and low behold, our Creator took us up on the offer! Pamela, along with her daughter, son, girlfriend, and children piled in one car and drove as far across the country as possible to get away from the storm. What an incredible ride it was for them. In each town they stopped in, people were most gracious in providing them a place to stay (thanks Motel 6 and Shilo Inn) and meals to eat along the way. They chose to come to Oregon because this was where the Red Cross had set up places for them to come to, but when Pamela and her children arrived, Oregon was asked (by the Red Cross) to "stand down", they would no longer need their assistance! There were about 500 beds ready and waiting and a handful of local churches ready to step in and help out! Pamela and her family ended up at a Shilo Inn in Beaverton. News 8 and The Oregonian had picked up her story and Bev happened to be listening to Pamela on Channel 8 and contacted the news station in regards to her whereabouts. Within a few hours, Bev called me and told me about Pamela and then called her to see how we could help her out. With the help of some friends in "high places" we were able to help Pamela and her kids and grandchildren locate places to live, provide furniture, household items and even some homemade "quilts" from a group of ladies that get together from Pacificorp. They made 8 quilts. My daughter Nicole and I had so much fun handing them out to Pamela and her family as well as some other families that were living at Shilo Inn in Beaverton.

I wanted to introduce Pamela to some others in our community as well that I loved and so I surprised her one day and took her to Mia's shop. I had called Mia a head of time to let her know of Pamela's situation and their was a lady their that wanted to help out and she donated some $$ so Pamela could get her hair cut and styled! I was amazed at seeing the hand of our Lord going out on her behalf, providing every detail along the way. After her spa treatment, I took her to my favorite place to eat across the street at Kauii Island Grill. I'm a regular at this place, the food is authentic Hawaiian BBQ, I highly recommend it! Pamela shared her story and how the Lord took care of them on their travels. The Kauii Island owners could understand what it's like to survive a hurricane coming from Kauii, they had survived the terrible one that hit their island back in the early 90's. The owners of Kauii were so amazing and wanted to do something special for Pamela and her family and offered to cook a traditional meal, on the house!

I am so proud to be living in a community where people of all nationalities, can come together and pray, encourage and tangibly show Christ's love. This is what it's like being a part of the family of God.

What was interesting was that during all of this, takeing care of myself, attending school, taking care of my immediate family....and somehow still finding the time to meet the needs of Pamela and her family........well....it wasn't ME doing all of this....LOL!!! It was the LORD!!! I was in the middle of my own storm about a year ago....and when Pamela and her family "Blew in" they brought with them His Spirit and even though they were struggling, I knew that we were all safe because we were in the "Eye of the Storm."

(Look for Part 2, coming soon!)