I Wasn’t Ready for “And Suddenly…”

Decades ago, I remember praying for those “suddenly” kind of blessings.

I prayed for abundance and overflow.

Now that I’m older and much wiser, I’m grateful that “suddenly” never happened back then.

Let me explain.

I live in Houston, Texas where bright sunny skies can turn to utter darkness, blinding rain, and hurricane-force winds, all while walking from your house to the communal mailbox.

The city is built on a system of bayous and flooding is common. We all know the city’s low spots and most of us abide by the mantra “turn around, don’t drown.”

If the city has been under a drought, sudden rain—even light rain can wreak havoc. The dry soil can’t hold the water and runs off into neighborhoods, homes, churches, and businesses.

Hurricane Harvey–the 2017 category four storm that sat over the city for days caused billions of dollars of damage. Over 100 people lost their lives due to that storm. About eight percent of the city’s businesses shut down and never reopened. Even five years after the storm, thousands of homeowners were still waiting on assistance and some never received help at all.

The Thing About Suddenly

I lost my sister in 2017—suddenly—and that experience led me on an unbelievable journey. It upended my life and it took years to put it back together. That one event had me giving a side-eye to anything happening suddenly.

That suddenly event came for every resource I had, tried every bit of growth I’d managed to achieve, and still, it left my head spinning and my heart broken. Thankfully, I knew how to rebuild and I could lean on the two loves of my life to see me through. Over the next few years, I would deal with the grief and loss, sort out what the experience came to teach me, find my peace, and rebuild.

Slow and Controlled

Eroded landscapes and soil dry from drought are in no way ready to receive an outpouring of rain without causing significant damage.

When I look back on those moments I cried out for “suddenly” blessings and for overflow and increase, an affirmative answer would have wiped me out. They would have devastated me. I wasn’t ready. I had so much healing to do. I needed to grow in lots of areas. I needed to build internal and external infrastructures that could contain these blessings. I needed a plan for the overflow.

Now that I’m wiser and better equipped to withstand an outpouring, I can confidently watch the skies and know that whatever the Divine has in store for me, I’ve been equipped to handle it.