Ocracoke Strong

 7 feet of water rolled through the homes and lives of people on Ocracoke North Carolina when hurricane Dorian hit the islands directly. You can help them rebuild their lives at  https://www.nc.gov/volunteer/donate.

 The waters came, 

 The storm has passed. 

 Life goes on, 

 For hearts will last.

 Strength does come, 

 From up above. 

 No storm can sink, 

 The ship of love. 

 The hearts of young, 

 Past the graves of old. 

 These souls live on, 

 Through stories told. 

 From days which passed,

 And tales of yore,

 Those who come here, 

 Meet all those before. 

Their hearts stand strong,

And for each other.

A community bond,

Which is like no other.

Amidst these hearts,

Embraced by the sea,

Rebuilding their village,

I wish I could be.

 Our hearts were with them, 

 Standing with them still. 

 Though we are miles away, 

 Our hearts feel them still. 

 Greeting us by name, 

 As if we were there folks. 

 For this is how they live, 

 On Ocracoke. 

The Bible and The Banjo - for the people affected by the fire in Gatlinburg, Tennessee

I wrote this inspired by a situation that was experienced when my neighbors home in the mountains went up in flames. May people far and near come together in love, prayer, and action in helping the people affected by this tragic situation in the area of Gatlinburg.


I saw the flames from through the trees,
It was my neighbor's home,
Within the dark and near his loss,
His face looked so alone.

Bright orange fire light in his eyes,
In silence he just cried,
Surrounded by friends and fire crew,
Underneath the ashen sky.

His family safe and in and his arms,
Only two things more survived,
With banjo and Bible from the flames,
He kept his faith held high.

We came together in days to come,
Us neighbors far end is near,
To help a friend who was in need,
His family we held dear.

We each had skills to put to use,
To build that home again,
From our hearts we brought our skills,
Back home to help a friend.

For love from God flows through the heart,
As dark times sure will show,
We gathered in joy by the new front door,
With his Bible and banjo.

With over 700 homes and buildings destroyed, and a rising death toll, these folks need help.  Click below if you want to help them.

http://dollywoodfoundation.org