I’ve lived in Houston all my life, and I’ve always known it to be a special place. At least once a day, one of the following will happen to you in Houston- someone will wave you ahead of them at a stop sign, a stranger will hold open a door for your entire family, or a person will look you in the eye, smile and say hi. These are the kind people that make up this city. Watching the city you’ve called home your entire life be swallowed up by water is heartbreaking. It’s so hard to see such widespread devastation. I’m grateful that, as of right now, there is no water in our house, but so many Texans are now homeless. There’s a quote I thought of when I started seeing pictures from my friends and images on the news…
…”When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”-Fred Rogers
There are so many helpers in Houston right now. There is so much strength and hope coming from them, and they are giving so much light.
I see hope in the man’s face who was rescued, along with his young son, by helicopter and says to the newsman, “God is good.” I see hope in my friend’s face who lost everything but posts a picture of herself and her family with huge smiles on their faces, just grateful to be alive and safe. I see hope in the countless rescues my neighbor has made with his boat that he brought in from Port O Connor, hoping to save it from Harvey’s path. I see hope in my friends that opened up their garage as a shelter. I see hope in all of the small acts of kindness that are being performed all over the city.
If a small birthday candle was lit for every act of kindness, I have no doubt that Houston would be the brightest spot on the entire globe right now.
I’m so grateful for all the helpers in our city. If you are one of them, thank you. You are bringing so much hope and light to a desperate situation.
This is just the beginning of a long, long, long road for us. Please pray for US.
If you’d like to be a helper, don’t worry about the numbers. Anything and everything helps! Click here.
The helpers:
The helpers in Houston provide so much hope.
