THE FLOOD, DEAN, THE ANNIVERSARY

Ok, so we had a flood in Valdosta Georgia about 2 weeks ago. Really it was all over Georgia and a little in Florida. We had roads blocked off for a week and a half which made getting around town...very difficult and long! We had 3 really bad days of rain and thunder and lightning with no power or cable interruption. It wasn't until the sunshine was out and you thought it was going to be a perfectly lovely day that we realized Mediacom customers would have no cable or internet for days. Yes I understand this is a small sacrifice compared to the people who had water in their homes up to their waists or higher. Our river overflowed and wiped out the Mediacom office, and several local businesses as well as homes. The city is really coming together for those affected. FEMA was here last week and we are awaiting their reply on whether or not they will give us government money for restoration. So needless to say that is why I have not blogged in a while. It took 3 days for my cable to come back and 10 days for my internet!

To Dean,
I hope you are still dropping by and reading my blog. I am glad that you came across it and left me a message. God works in mysterious ways. You commented that my words helped you on a day where I was feeling a lot of despair. It just goes to show you that God can work through any situation if you allow Him. I pray for you and your son and am sorry for your loss.
Heather


I was all ready to post yesterday in the midst of my grief. I had taken my laptop home, but my internet wouldn't work. Now I know why. Yesterday was the 1 year mark of my dad's passing. This whole week has been a steady flow of ups and downs and tears and smiles. I couldn't believe the hurt was rushing back in the same way it came a year ago! Thursday, I went to Dixie Cream Doughnuts and ordered doughnuts to be delivered to the police department on Friday. I sent along a note thanking them for the ways they have honored my dad over the past year. I got to Dixie Cream and asked to speak with Jason the owner. I told him my name and asked if he could deliver doughnuts for me on Friday. He recognized my last name and said are you related to Commander Butler...well you can imagine what happened next. I said yes, I'm his daughter and he said he was a very good man. I started to tear up. I regained my composure and he took my order. I went to give him my credit card and he said it's taken care of. Normally I would have cried some more and said thank you, but Jason had already been a blessing to me before. You see dad had doughnuts brought in every Friday for his staff. He went into the hospital on a Wed night and passed away on Thursday. Jason didnt know until after he completed his usual Friday morning delivery. He could have sent us a bill for those doughnuts. Who knows if dad paid by the month and owed him for 2 weeks worth...I'm not sure. I just know that he is a small business owner and was decent and nice! That was just one of the things that happened in my week. There were a lot of others, but suprisingly I don't really wish to share them. What I do wish to share with you is that God is good. Thursday night and Friday morning were awful. I cried just as if it were happening all over again. I couldn't make it stop. I prayed for peace in my heart. I begged for the nights to not be so hard. After receiving two beautiful bouquets of flowers, pics to follow, and some tullips from my mom, my day got a little better. That morning I posted on facebook that I was praying for peace in my heart, that I still hurt and missed him. Well in true facebook fashion, I received tons of words of sweet thoughts and prayers. I received text messages from friends and church members and I cried as I read each one. I was physically drained and decided to take a nap. I awoke renewed. Dare I say it...I had a peace in my heart. God had heard my cry and heard the cry of those interceeding for me. Prayer works! That's my main thing I want to share with you. God gave me that peace and I believe it was because of the prayer of His people. There was no other way to describe the drastic change in my attitude. So when you are at your ropes end, just pray and if you can't pray, ask someone to pray for you. My best friends had dinner for me Friday night. They hugged me and I didn't lose it. We sat outside to eat because after all the prediction of a cloudy, scattered rainstorm day...it was pretty. We went to a garage sale preview, went by Chris and Heather's and mom's houses and played a trivia game on playstation. (I won all four games by the way) It was a good night. I still miss my dad, but God took my pain away. Thank you Lord!

That's all for now. More to come...it's a beautiful day and the first Saturday I have had off in a while and I'm going to take advantage of it! Love to you all!
Happy Easter!