Knowing You’re Going to Drown

Hurricane Harvey dumped record amounts of rain on south Texas, causing widespread flooding and forcing an estimated 100,000 families out of their homes. Mary Frazier was among them.  She and her husband had to be rescued from their pickup truck when it stalled in high water.   

“All I could see was death.  I just knew I was gone, and it wasn’t a pretty sight,” she said, her voice breaking as she held back tears.  

When the waters receded, the couple was allowed to return to what was left of their home.

“We have lost everything.  We lost our home, everything in the home.  We lost, our automobiles.”

Then, Operation Blessing showed up in Mary’s neighborhood and began helping with the overwhelming task of cleaning out flood-damaged houses.    

“We didn’t know then what we were gonna do,” she said.  “So operation blessing came, and that’s exactly what they are: a blessing.”

Operation Blessing volunteers removed carpets, furniture, sheetrock and other water soaked materials.  It not only reduced the risk of mold and other health hazards, it was the first step to helping residents get back on their feet.  
But, for people like Mary, Operation Blessing brought much more than just helping hands.

“Operation Blessing gave me so much hope,” she said with a huge smile.  “Not just hope, they physically gave me hugs and compassion and just everything that I could possibly—I needed. I needed all of that.  They are just a blessing in every capacity: emotional, physically, spiritually…”

As the people of Texas continue rebuilding their lives, Operation Blessing will be there offering help and support.

“Glory to God,” she said through teary eyes.  “I praise God for ‘em.  I just— I just can’t say enough how much I am appreciative of these people. Operation blessing has just been so, so much of a blessing to us. Because we just couldn’t have done it without them.”