I sat with my camera, both of us quiet, content only to look at the travelling sun blasting its last rays in a plethora of colors on the Hawaiian sky. The night was warm, the waves chatty as were the hotel guests on the terrace sipping mai tai and watching the tiki torch flames dancing joyously in the night. It was the last night before the hurricane. My first. Category 5. And it was expected to land on the cost where my hotel was. Talk about an adventure! A few hours before my phone had almost deafened me when it decided to sound the alarm. I had my headsets on and for a brief moment I thought my phone was broken: it was the first time I heard a danger alarm sound…
The hotel staff had told us to close the window blinds but seeing how we were right on the beach, this precaution seemed like trying to seek protection from the storm with an umbrella. They also told us to stock up on food, water and batteries but things went pretty crazy real soon on my side of the island and by the time I reached the stores, most of them were closed. The only one left open was a Subway and I figured what better way to celebrate my first hurricane than with junk food? So I temporarily threw away my junk food adversity and stuck up on potato chips and chocolate chip cookies. I joked with the sightly hurricane concerned Subway teenage seller in an attempt to ease his fears, and returned to my hotel terrace to watch the last sunset before the storm.
As I sat there, feeling completely awkward because I wasn’t worried at all, I was overwhelmed with gratitude to God. For one of the most wonderful sunsets I had seen in a while; for the fact that I was in Hawaii – an island I wanted to visit for such a long time and for His peace. Because I know that no matter where I am and no matter what happens around me, God is in control and so I need not to worry. That night I slept like a baby.
PS: I woke up the next morning to see a beautifully clouded sky and a few happy surfers thankful they had some pretty good waves to play in. During the night, Lane the hurricane had changed her mind, turned into a tropical storm and moved all the way to the other side of the island.
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