This is what happened to Sherry Matthews and her husband, Larry Matthews in the tropical storm after Hurricane Frances. Sherry would like everyone to be aware that she is not saying that God blessed her more than others and did not answer the prayers of others. She simply told what happened and she is very humble and thankful to God for his mercy. Even as this story was uploaded, another Hurricane named Ivan was about to make landfall on the Gulf Coast but now here is Sherry's and Larry's story regarding Hurricane Frances as told by me, the webmaster of the Angelwings site.. STAND BY ME TILL THE STORM PASSES BY My niece, Sherry and her husband, Larry. lives in Redington Shores, FL just outside of St. Petersburg, and was in the path of Hurricane Frances after it became a tropical storm. Angels were with her and her husband throughout it all. She lives in a mobile home and by the time the mandatory evacuation notice came around for their area, the streets were already flooding and the wind was blowing at a creditable speed so they decided they would be safer by staying put than by making an attempt to reach other shelter. She is a true believer in the providence of God but she also realizes that prayer changes things. As they were being buffeted by high winds just under Hurricane strength and being pelted by a driving rain it became quite frightening. Most of the people in the park had left with the exception of about five mobile home dwellers including theirs. The wind was ripping things apart in the park and debris was flying. She was crouched on the floor for protection from anything that may come crashing through the walls of their home. She knew she needed to pray but she was so distraught that she did not know how to pray for all that needed praying for. She began to pray that God would surround them and the others who had chosen to stay there in a protective bubble. "It seemed that a voice spoke from somewhere and said that I needed to pray for more than a bubble," she relates. It wasn't an audible voice but more like a thought that was given to her from someplace outside of her being. She describes the scene that came to her mind the instant following that thought. She said that in her mind she could see angels surrounding their mobile home and all it entailed in a wrapping that at first resembled something like plastic wrap but then it began to reflect colors. The only way to describe it is iridescent. The angels continued to wrap layer after layer of this blessed protection around their home. Suddenly she felt both loved and protected by God Almighty and that He was not going to allow any harm to come to them or their home. Some may say that was an insane reaction in the face of debris and pieces of mobile homes and other things flying through the air all around them but she had the peace that passeth human understanding that God had given to her. They even laid down and took a nap later as the storm swirled around them because they had lost so much sleep the previous two nights. Earlier, her husband had parked one of the cars beneath the carport of a neighboring mobile home owner for a modicum of protection for it. After a while, he had a strong feeling that he should move the car to another place so he parked it in a carport across from their home as those neighbors had evacuated also. Later, the carport where he had parked it in the beginning collapsed but their car was safe across the way since he had moved it earlier. Late that evening in between rain and wind bands, they went outside to see if there had been any damage. The mobile homes on either side of them and many in the park had suffered damage but theirs had not been touched. They had not really had time to remove things from their own lot that may get picked up by the wind and hurled about like flying missiles but as they inspected, she even found one of her plants and the stand it was on still standing intact even though things from other areas of the park had flown everywhere. An outside shower covered with vinyl siding that should have lost it's siding to the wind had not been touched and was still intact. About five other mobile home residents there had decided to ride out the storm in their homes and she had prayed for them also that God would protect them. Not one of those mobile homes was touched. The others had suffered much damage. At the time of this writing they were missed by Hurricane Ivan but it looked for a while as if they would be right in its path. Once more, Sherry and Larry are so very thankful but they prayed so hard for others who were still in its deadly path. Back To Angelwings Back To Angelwings Story Index SPECIAL NOTE: The artwork used to make this background is from the Danny Halhbohm collection. The beautiful music "Angel Footprints" is the original work of the very talented musician Geoff Anderson and is used with permission. Music Copyright © 2002 Geoff Anderson