Faith Travels from Erica Robinson...
Clogger and Irish Step Dancer
Excerpt from Cathy's new book due out this fall.
Reprinted with permission from Cathy Lee Phillips.
Thirteen-year-old Erica raced up the stairs with her typical boundless energy, her blonde hair flying behind her. Running toward her parents’ bedroom, she plopped cross-legged in front of the TV and aimed the remote. She hit the ON button and finally found a show to her liking. By the time the show ended, her nails would be perfectly buffed, painted, and dried. Erica reached for an emery board, a shade of polish called Cameo Candy, and went to work.
The day was like many others in the Robinson home. Mom Stacy worked diligently in her office, creating and organizing paperwork to promote the many Christian speakers The Robinson Agency represents (me included). Robie, Erica’s Dad, was engaged in an afternoon snooze while eleven-year-old Evan, to no one’s surprise, played video games. The Robinson family was at peace in their beautiful home despite an outside menace called Ivan.
One of the deadliest hurricanes in recent memory, Ivan had already swept through a corridor that included the Bahamas and Cuba. The brutal storm was responsible for many deaths and thousands of dollars in damages. Coming ashore in the U.S. near Mobile, Alabama, his fury weakened, but the winds and driving rains were still perilous. Ivan continued his march through the south and his path eventually led him to Atlanta where he entered the city as forcefully as General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1864. Though Ivan had been downgraded from a Category 5 hurricane to a mere tropical storm, he was still filled with fury on September 16, 2004.
Blinding, hammering rains blew almost horizontally across the entire state of Georgia. Flash floods threatened areas that had never seen floodwaters before. Weakened by the saturated grounds, trees that stood for centuries were easily uprooted by the brutal winds. The trees crashed to the earth, dragging cable and power lines with them. Tornado warnings blanketed the state. TV stations stopped ordinary programming to warn residents of approaching danger, even though the thousands without power were unable to heed the warnings.
The night was terrifying, certainly similar to the storm that filled the disciples with alarm, causing them to cry out to Jesus who spoke to the storm and asked for peace for those in fear. .
The winds and rain subsided when Christ spoke. Many prayed for that same sweet peace that dark, ferocious night.
* * * * * * *
Erica Robinson is one of my favorite people. With her blonde hair, deep green eyes, and captivating smile, she is a beautiful young woman. She is definitely a “girlie girl” whose hobbies are clogging, talking with her friends, and going to the mall. More importantly, Erica is beautiful in her faith, her sincerity, and her desire to grow as a Christian. She accepted Christ as her Savior at the age of four, praying the prayer of salvation and asking Christ into her heart. She shared the joyful news with her parents. Thrilled, Stacy and Robie talked many hours with Erica to help her better understand what this decision meant for her life. Erica has been growing in her faith since and readily shares her beliefs with others. She puts her faith into action as she voluntarily travels to nursing homes to entertain the residents with her clogging skills. I’m proud of my friend, Erica – genuine, happy, growing, and beautiful, inside and out.
* * * * * * *
Ivan continued to howl while Erica concentrated on her cameo candy nails. Of course she was aware of the storm but, as always she felt safe in her home with her family close at hand. At first, the storm was simply an inconvenience that interrupted her TV viewing with weather reports and tornado warnings. Occasionally she glanced through the bedroom window and observed trees dancing and bowing from the force of the howling winds. But Erica had a job to complete. Biting her lip with intense concentration, she carefully bathed her right thumbnail in cameo candy pink and finished the job with a clear top coat of polish.
The other three Robinsons approached their own tasks with the same intensity. Robie slept soundly despite the howling winds. Evan’s heart raced as he fought to be the victor in every game he played. Stacy, her eyes on her computer screen, was working on ten different projects at once. All knew that Ivan was just outside their door but no one could have guessed how their lives were about to be changed.
Still upstairs, Erica stretched out her hands, inspected her nails, and began blowing them dry. Her head turned toward the window and, again, she noticed the trees twisting in the tempest. One in particular caught her attention because, should it fall, Erica would be directly in its path.
Was something or someone telling her the tree was going to fall? Was it an instinct? Paranoia? Or could God be speaking to her?
“Don’t be silly,” Erica lectured herself. “When you think something like this might happen, it never does.”
Though she still felt nervous and uneasy, she turned back to her nails and the TV. Her eyes, though, were drawn again to the window and the tree just beyond the bedroom wall. What would happen if the tree . . .
Before she finished her thought, the unthinkable happened! The tall monstrosity swayed sharply and began falling toward the house. In a second it would be on top of her. Erica screamed and willed her legs to move. As her foot crossed the threshold of the bedroom door, the mighty tree crashed onto the house with an explosive blast. Grabbing the banister, Erica fought her way downstairs, her still-damp nails decorating the stairs, walls, and house with streaks of Cameo Candy polish.
“I can’t remember if I was actually in or out of the room when the tree hit the house. I just remember screaming.”
Stacy also remembers the terrifying moment. “It sounded like the whole house had exploded and I was sitting one floor below the impact.”
Robie awoke in a panic. Stacy ran from her office. Evan dropped his video games and darted into the living room where they found Erica trembling and sobbing. Shocked, it was a few moments before the Robinsons understood that a tree had crashed into the master bedroom. .
|
Into each life
some rain must fall,
some days must be
dark and dreary.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
Following Robie, they crawled to the site where, seconds before, Erica was happily and naively drying her nails while the tall tree stood majestically in the yard as always. Now it rested helplessly on the floor of the master bedroom exactly where Erica had been sitting. Limbs, branches, and soggy leaves filled the room. Heavy rain fell through a massive opening in the roof while lightening split the night sky. The family grabbed anything they could find to catch the downpour saturating the room. Amazingly, the electricity was still on so they could still see, even in the five o’clock rainy darkness.
Surveying the damage, Erica shuddered even harder. The damage was extensive, yes, and rain still gushed into the house. But the harm could have been much worse. Had the tree fallen one foot over, it would have hit the window, causing even more extensive damage to the bedroom, possibly even crashing through to the first floor. Had Erica not looked up the tree could have fallen on her. But she was safe, absolutely uninjured despite the destruction that surrounded her. She sobbed from shock and fright. Still she aware of and amazed at God’s protection in the midst of the chaos.
While Robie and Evan stayed behind, Stacy and Erica checked into a nearby Hampton Inn.
Was Erica able to sleep that night?
“Not really,” she recalls. When her eyes closed, it was easy to recall the image of the enormous tree falling toward the house.
And today?
“Now I’m okay. I’m so glad God told me to watch out for the tree and move. I will never doubt God again.”
* * * * * *
Erica Robinson, a bundle of explosive energy, was part of a miracle in the midst of a hurricane. She learned that God protects His children even when we do not recognize the enormous danger surrounding us. Ivan, a killer, was just outside the door. Erica and her family went about their normal activities unaware of the unfolding crisis. Nonetheless, God was present and protecting His children that night. God loves. God protects. That is His nature. His protection is available for each of us today and always – and stronger than any storm that crashes into our lives.
MMMMMMM
Therefore let everyone who is godly
pray to you while you may be found,
surely when the mighty waters rise,
they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 32:6-7, NIV
MMMMMMM
