In Everything Give Thanks
By Chastity Ogburn
Avery County
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
It’s almost been eleven weeks since Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina. She left many mountain communities completely devastated. I remember the morning well, frantically running around in our house trying to move things upstairs because our downstairs was beginning to flood. My husband and son-in-law worked for hours pushing the water out while my daughter and I were upstairs crying and praying calling out to the Lord for His protection.
My son had me on the phone when a huge tree fell and just missed falling on his apartment. He saw his neighbor’s house come completely off its foundation.
These things I have mentioned are on a small scale compared to what many families experienced and suffered that morning. Many in our county lost loved ones and some watched their entire houses be washed away and destroyed due to the flooding and landslides. Businesses were destroyed and roads were washed away. When the rain stopped we went out to see some of the devastation in our town and it looked as if we were living in a war zone. We lost power and all contact with the outside world that Friday morning. We woke up to no water the next morning. Our family was able to make our way off the mountain the day after the hurricane. We went to stay with family a few hours away in Sanford, NC.
I remember waking up that next morning in Sanford with an urgency to help out our community in need. God had stirred my heart to begin collecting donations for supplies. Our family and friends in Sanford were so generous to give and we were able to fill a 14 ft Uhaul truck with much-needed supplies. We made the trip back up the mountain the following Tuesday morning after the storm and stayed the day giving out supplies at Anne Ministries. God blessed and showed up in an amazing way!
Some may ask, how can we give thanks to such devastation? It’s hard to understand sometimes … but God can give us peace and hope amid the most difficult times in our lives. It has been truly amazing to see how this storm has brought people together. Love for one another. Love for our neighbors. Everyone is working together and helping each other. God’s love has shown up in the people who are coming from all over our country to help us. I thank God for everyone who has volunteered time and jumped right in to help at Anne Ministries. I have witnessed firsthand love for one another working in the relief and rebuilding stage after the hurricane. God is still good and He is at work amid such loss. He brings beauty from ashes.
My favorite verse is Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” It was the middle of the first week following the hurricane that we announced that we would be canceling our Fall for Life Banquet which was scheduled for October 5. We had prepared for months and we were excited to host our 2nd annual fundraising banquet. God gave me peace. He reminded me that I can plan things but that He is sovereign and He can change those plans. My job is to trust what God is doing. I must trust His purpose and I am reminded of Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways.”
I have seen in the past few weeks God bless the ministry and I continue to be in awe of Him. We have so much to be thankful for. The resources and supplies that have flooded in for Anne Ministries to help families in need seem unending. Families are in an even greater need now in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and God has taken our little and multiplied it greatly. God has also connected us with more families to help and brought more awareness of Anne Ministries to our community and surrounding communities. Only God could do all that we are witnessing. He receives all the glory! Our theme verse this year to share and focus on at the banquet was Matthew 19:26, Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible , but with God all things are possible.”
God is faithful and He is good. We can trust His ways and plans. He is our hope and He is our stay. And yes we can give thanks in all things … even the most difficult things because He is always at work for the good of those that love Him. May God bless you all with His peace and hope this Thanksgiving and always!
__________________________________________
In 2018, the Lord put on my heart the calling to reach out to those hurting from loss. Anne Ministries began in September of 2018. Anne means “grace” and that is what this ministry is about, extending God’s grace and allowing Him to heal your deepest hurt. This ministry reaches out to those hurting from abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss. The ministry expanded in 2021 offering pregnancy support services to those facing an unplanned pregnancy. Chastity and her family attend Emmanuel Baptist Church in Newland, NC. You can purchase her book, His Grace Covers All, on Amazon HERE.
Read more Christian news HERE.
__________________________________________
