“My one hope is that sharing my story will have some value to somebody who is still carrying their own secrets, because we all have them, and that whoever they are, they find the courage and the strength and love for themselves to get help. None of us gets through this life alone. Certainly not me.”
– Ginger Zee
This past week we all watched as Florence rolled in. Hurricane Florence is being called the “storm of a lifetime” for the region it hit. Between August 30 and September 9, Florence vacillated between tropical storm and hurricane, but by September 10 it was declared a category 4 hurricane, and it reached landfall three days later in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Thankfully, it downgraded as it hit, but the Carolinas are still facing great devastation.
In the aftermath of such peril, there is always desperate need for relief efforts. If you want to give or volunteer and are looking for honest and trustworthy organizations to donate to, here are a few.
Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort, Inc.
This is an organization near and dear to my heart because my granny, uncle, and cousins have volunteered and worked with the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort. So I have first-hand knowledge this organization is the real deal. My precious granny would often get on a bus with her church and head off to volunteer. You can donate here, find out more about how you can help here, and read more about them here.
Led by Franklin Graham, Billy and Ruth Graham’s oldest son, this organization provides spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. You can donate here and learn about volunteering here. Read more about this organization here.
This week seemed to be a good time to post a review of Ginger Zee’s book—for obvious reasons. Ginger Zee (Zuidgeest) is ABC News Chief Meteorologist, and she has worked very hard to get to that position. Her book Natural Disaster: I Cover Them. I Am One. is about her career journey and her personal life in the midst of her climb to the top.
The book opens with Ginger’s story of having called off an engagement, not once but twice to the same man. Ginger describes this relationship as safe and comfortable, but just not what she wanted. (This is a part of the book all young women should read.) This story falls a bit out of chronological order though, as the next chapter reverts to her childhood where her dream of becoming a meteorologist was born and then flips to life after college when the first hint of her depression appeared. She talks about this later on in the book when, right before joining the ABC team, she checked herself into a mental hospital.
Ginger’s moves from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Chicago, Illinois, to New York, New York, were all for her career. She worked long hours, weekends, and holidays. Once in Chicago, Ginger had to deal with some vicious feedback from TV trolls, but she says she’s learned how to respond to these folks: with kindness. Her examples are witty, and some of them are just downright funny. What’s interesting though is that for the most part, she divides her career narrative and her personal-life narrative.
Ginger weaves some relationship stories into the story of career, like the one about a politician. In dating this man, Ginger says she took their relationship as a challenge, one in which she wanted to “step over the other girls” (122) he’d dated. Meanwhile, she ignored the voice screaming at her that something wasn’t right. “It’s amazing how long it takes us to do the right thing for ourselves once we know what that is. I wish I would have been strong enough and loved myself enough to end it when I felt like I wasn’t being treated as I should.” Ginger learned a lot of this situation, including the fact that she was allowing men to define her worth. “I do think you need to respect yourself enough to find the right person or just be cautious before diving in because there is no value in allowing other to determine your worth” (124).
Later in the book Ginger gets into some other relationship details, one in which she ignored the first of many red flags that the man’s career had been the absolute most important thing to him, over any and all people. He was emotionally abusive, and Ginger is candid in telling her story in hopes that she might help others in the process. Reading her story, you’ll feel with her, for her, and likely for yourself, too.
She transitions to ABC after that, describes meeting her husband, and explains how grateful she is now. Ginger is honest, transparent, and real in this book. And it’s admirable to say the least. Be wary of some of the content (it’s not exactly all rated PG), but know that her story is one meant to help, encourage, and support others. I think there are some valuable lessons especially for girls and young women that can be learned from Ginger’s book.