C.S. Lewis, in his book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, wrote of a land called Narnia, which was under the curse of a wicked witch. The witch decreed it would always be winter and never Christmas in Narnia. It was a land of snow and ice where hope was frozen.

I live in Florida, the opposite of the frozen land described by Lewis. Florida is a land of perpetual summer with sandy beaches, bright sunshine, swaying palm trees, and, of course, theme parks teeming with happy families. It’s a place to which millions of people have moved to escape the cold and snow of winter and enjoy the good life.

Florida is a land where one can retire and purchase a reasonably priced manufactured home in a neat, tidy park, often situated near a golf course, and not far from major attractions. It’s a place dreams are made of.

In August and September 2004, many of those dreams were shattered, to use a phrase from a book by psychologist Larry Crabb. Four major hurricanes swept across the Sunshine State, three of them crisscrossing over the county in which I live in central Florida.

The first hurricane was named Charlie. It came ashore on Florida’s west coast at Punta Gorda as a category four, almost a category five, hurricane. The winds were in excess of 140 m.p.h. It moved quickly through the center of the state, bringing wide spread destruction to houses, trees, the citrus crop, major buildings, and devastation to many of those neat, tidy, manufactured-home parks. A number of our Presbyterian churches had buildings that were badly damaged or destroyed in Peace River Presbytery.

The second hurricane was Frances. We had days of warning and lived with anxiety as we awaited the storm to make landfall. Hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes along the east coast of Florida. Many more boarded up houses and businesses and waited nervously. The destruction was terrible in the Vero Beach, Stuart, and West Palm Beach area. The storm then trekked slowly across the state from east to west, dumping huge amounts of rain on the central counties and causing extensive flooding. It crossed the path of Hurricane Charlie, undoing some of the repairs that were underway in the Winter Haven and Lake Wales area.

The third storm was Ivan. Like Charlie, Ivan was a powerful category four hurricane. It missed the peninsula of Florida, but came ashore in the panhandle area and along the southern border of Alabama. The winds and flooding and destruction are hard to describe. Even roads and bridges collapsed. The flooding continued as the storm moved northeast through the Carolinas and into West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Then the crazy thing went out into the Atlantic, circled back south, and crossed Florida again as a series of strong storms. Still not finished, it swept back into the Gulf of Mexico and slammed into Louisiana and Texas.

Then came Jeanne. The meteorologists told the public this fourth hurricane was nothing to be concerned about. But the storm stalled, turned northeast, made a big circle in the Atlantic Ocean, and headed west toward the east coast of Florida. It came ashore at almost the exact spot as Hurricane Frances only two weeks before. One can only imagine the damage to areas already badly hit. People had to contend with piles of debris from previous storms being hurled about. Hurricane Jeanne continued across the state and struck cities on the opposite coast—Tampa and St. Petersburg. In our area, the winds and storm began about 2 a.m. and continued to howl at 80 m.p.h. until after 2 p.m. It was twelve hours of stress, wondering if the windows in the house would hold.

Many of us have learned a lot from these storms. Many of us in the interior regions of the state had felt quite safe. It had been over forty years since a major hurricane rolled through central Florida. We had been warned to prepare, but most had not. We’ve learned to listen to the weather forecasters more carefully and not say, “It can't happen to us.”

We’ve learned that material possessions are important, but not the most important thing. God’s gift of life is what is most important. Some lost their lives in the storms, but, thankfully, most came through fine.

We’ve learned what is and is not covered by insurance, and to read insurance contracts more carefully. It seems that most insurance contracts include a clause stating that in case of a hurricane, there is a 4% deductible on the total insured value of the property—not the normal $500 or $1,000 deductible. Many people, although fully covered by insurance, are still looking at $5,000 to $10,000 deductibles.

We’ve learned about mutual aid. Power crews have come to Florida from Vermont, Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, just to name a few states. One of the families in our church was without power for a week. It was restored on a Saturday afternoon, just in time to watch their Ohio State University football team lose. Ironically, the power company that got their lines back up and the power working was from, you guessed it, Ohio.

We’ve lived out a number of biblical and theological principles. “Do not fear” spoke to the anxiety we felt before and during the storms. “Love your neighbor as yourself” was lived out as people took in friends, neighbors, and relatives who were unable to stay in their homes, or to help neighbors clean up their places after the storms passed.

Biblical principles were lived out on a presbytery-wide basis. The presbytery office immediately began contacting churches and pastors to inquire about their welfare and to coordinate efforts to help. Presbyterians around the country have contributed work teams and financial support through One Great Hour of Sharing, as well as other special appeals.

I have not heard many people say, “How could God let this happen to us?” I’m sure some have said that, and others have felt it. But I have heard people talk about how blessed we are in so many ways. Many people have insurance, even if it includes a large deductible. The federal and state governments have been swift to send aid such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. We’ve had numerous visits by the governor and president. All one has to do is look at the news of places like Haiti and Grenada and realize that, although we’ve been hit hard, others have faced much worse and need our love and help.

Friends across the country have telephoned and emailed to ask about our families’ welfare. They have let us know they have been praying for us. I serve on a General Assembly committee; almost everyone from that committee contacted me after the storm.

We Presbyterians believe in the sovereignty of God. We believe that things in this world don’t just happen willy nilly. We believe that behind the storms is a God who cares, a God who uses tragedy to bring about good, a God who, in some mysterious way, guides and shapes our world and our lives. Therefore, in praising God for providential deliverance, one must also ask, “What are you teaching us, Lord?”

Maybe some have built their homes too close to the ocean or gulf. Maybe some have ignored warnings about construction requirements. Maybe some have built too close to the 100-year flood plains. Maybe we have ignored trimming back huge old trees that lean over our houses. It’s amazing what damage can be done when one of the giant live oak trees falls through a house.

We’ve survived the hurricane season of 2004. It’s gone, but it will be a long while before it is forgotten. Much of Florida is already getting back to business as usual. The theme parks are open. People are venturing out to the beaches. The restaurants are filled once again. Most of the yards have been cleaned up. Some roofs have been patched, although most roofing companies are back logged with work for a year or more. We’re awaiting the influx of winter visitors from the north.

And we’re looking forward to Christmas. After the curse was broken in Narnia, Christmas arrived. That’s one of the wonderful things about our Christian faith. Christmas comes every year. We remember a God who loves us. We remember a God who sent God’s son to live with us, and die for us.

We remember a God who brings light, and hope, and life.