Hi friends,
It’s so good to be back with you. Many of you may not know but Becky kindly covered my last blog post for me. My family and I moved from Maryland to Florida. We were there a couple of weeks, and Hurricane Helene hit and flooded our house with four feet of water.
Given we’d just moved, most of our belongings were still in boxes on the floor. Everything was in boxes, and all the furniture was ruined—soaking wet and quickly covered with mold. I lost my entire office, literally. The only things to survive were two binders and two pictures I had put on a bookcase—all my writing memories—book cover posters, books, and supplies that were still in boxes. And I loved my office. It was built with items collected over the years from family and friends.
In the end, we lost 95% of our belongings and two cars in one fell swoop.
Our home had to be stripped of all the walls and insulation from six feet down, all the tile ripped out of our showers, all the floors, except our tile, ripped up, and the list goes on. It’s a shell of the home we bought. Then, it will have to be put back together.
It will be nice refurnishing and redecorating the home, and super sweet readers and friends are swooping in to buy us gifts from our Amazon wish list—everything from towels to pillows to sofas. Everyone has been so generous, readers and writer friends alike. The amazing thing is the readers that I don’t know personally who are still sending items from the list. Friends have started a donation fundraiser and gifted us meal gift cards.
The outpouring of love has been an unbelievable blessing during such a difficult time. While putting our house back together will be fun, it doesn’t erase the memory of all that was lost. It’s funny the things that affect you the most. My mom’s recipes hit the hardest for me, and so were our pictures and photographs. Neither can be reproduced. However, thanks to two of my closest friends, some of my photographs were preserved, and my clothes were washed repeatedly, so they are actually clean and wearable now. I don’t wish a flood on anyone, especially with a second hurricane hitting just weeks later, evacuating us from our Airbnb. Thankfully, the damage from Hurricane Milton was minimal. However, I do wish you an outpouring of love when you need it the most. Writers and readers are an amazing group who go above and beyond in generosity and kindness. We are so grateful for you all. I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Question for you:
When have you experienced an outpouring of love during a good time in your life or a difficult one?
Blessings,
Dani
Latest posts by Dani Pettrey (see all)
- Celebrating World Book Day - April 23, 2025
- Five Faith Lessons My Corgi Taught Me - April 9, 2025
- A Sneak Peek into a Retreat & Giveaway - March 26, 2025
My MIL had been with us in IL for a month and when we took her back to her home in MO, she lost her balance and I reached over to keep her from falling-we both fell. She was ok but I broke my hip. Had to be in rehab after surgery a few weeks in KS. One blessing was that our son and family came often and another was a friend offered to water my yard full of flowers daily! In addition, he sent me pictures of my beautiful flowers so not only could I enjoy them, but share them on FB with friends! I was thrilled. So many prayers lifted for me too! Early summer is when everything blooms in IL and I did not miss any of it! The friend has gone home to Jesus but the flower pics and his kindness lives on! God is good!
Oh I’m so sorry about your fall and breaking your hip but what a sweet story of the help you received. I love the pictures of your flowers to share. That’s lovely.
You have been in my thoughts so often recently, Dani. Many prayers going up for you as you regroup and go forward. Your attitude is an inspiration. Much love to you and your family.
Thank you so much, Deb!
Hi, Dani. Thank you for sharing your heart. I can’t begin to imagine the sense of loss you must feel after losing so much, especially the irreplaceable things. I had a similar experience years ago when an apartment storage unit got flooded and I lost most of my Christmas ornaments, many handmade and personalized that had been collected over the years so could not be replaced. It was the icing on the cake of a very bad week. Christmas is my favorite holiday so it was tough to deal.
My mom went to Heaven on Friday night. It was unexpected. The outpouring of support for me and my family has been a source of strength. Her services are on Saturday and burial is on Monday. Knowing that there are people to lean on during this time makes it easier to bear.
I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers as you continue to recover from your loss.
Oh my goodness, Vickie. I’m so incredibly sorry for your loss. I’ll be keeping you in prayer.
Dear Dani,
I’m sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I lost everything. We are in NC where people lost so much from Helene.
Thankfully we didn’t. It is so good though to see how people are banding together to help others.
I have been so blessed through the years. People bringing food when my father-in-law died. People bringing food and gifts when I had each of my 6 children. Unexpected monetary gifts when times were lean. Bags of groceries. God is so good and I’m thankful for His children. So glad you are being blessed.
God bless,
Kim in NC
Thank you so much, Kim. I’m so sorry for all the flood victims are going through in NC.
I love how God sends provision for us through friends and family when we need it most.
It’s so good to have you back, Dani. You’ve been in my prayers daily. My heart absolutely breaks for you and the loss of your precious things that are beyond monetary value. God doesn’t waste pain and I have no doubt He’ll do something ‘new’ for you. Your testimony of how He’s already using readers and friends to be His hands and feet to you during this time is so encouraging and it’s wonderful to see God’s family in action.
Thank you so much, Amy. Happy to be back 🙂 It is amazing to see God’s family in action.
I’ve been praying for you often over these last weeks, Dani. I know firsthand how generous and supportive readers and writers can be after the Vivian fiasco a couple years ago. God shows up through his people in amazing ways during hard times. I’m so thankful that you are experiencing an outpouring of that love. I’m sorry for all you’ve lost but so encouraged by your resiliency and the way you are finding hope for the future. Love you, my friend!
Awww. Thank you, sweet friend. So appreciate your prayers. Love you too!
I’ve been praying for you Dani! And I understand having a house stripped down and put back together after our water/foundation issues last year. It’s a long process but praying you find joy in the little things during all the stress. Hugs!
I’m so sorry you had to go through that. It is a long process. I deeply appreciate your prayers and so bummed I won’t get to see you next week.
I experienced an apartment flood many years ago. I too lost 80-90% of everything I’ve owned so I get it. It wasn’t the level of devastation you’re experiencing because I was a flood of just one unit but still. Trauma. Loss. PTSD. Grief. But friends and family rallied around that day helping me try to save things during the flood. They put me up during the multiple transitions and then when the apartment complex didn’t do right by me. Friends and family stored my saved possessions. Gave me a place to stay for a few nights or a few months. I even had someone sneak cash into the pocket of a bag I was carrying to bless me during that time. God used people to be his hands and feet of love and support for me. God is so good beyond our imaginings.
So glad you felt God carrying you and blessing you through such a difficult time.
Dani, I’ve been praying that you all feel the love of people and God as you walk through this. You are not alone.
My heart is heavy for you and your family as you continue to process this tragedy and follow our Abba Father, one step at a time, into the next chapter of your lives. So thankful for your strong devotion to Him. Thank you for testifying to HIS FAITHFULNESS as you are responding IN FAITH… You are in my prayers.
Dani, you and your family have been on my heart so much. Continuing to pray for you!There’s so much to rebuilding and loss like that.
I’ve been praying for you, Dani, and so many others who lost so much in both recent hurricanes. I can’t imagine the emotional toll this took on you, on top of the physical and mental strain. I’m thankful to hear how God has blessed you in many ways through the love of His people. What a beautiful expression of God’s heart at work in human beings. He must surely be smiling about that. I will continue to pray for you as you rebuild your home and work through all the loss.
I am so sorry for your loss. I also live in the Tampa area. Hurricane Milton was the worst hurricane we have experienced. Thankfully we only had debris to deal with. When we lost a baby I was carrying, people were so generous and caring. That loss was deep and we appreciated all the love we were given during that time. We were touched how the Lord is so faithful to meet out needs. Praying you will experience that as well.