When I think of my home, the first image that comes to mind is the sunrise view over the pond out my back yard. An Oklahoma sunrise of oranges and reds, a slight fog over the water and ducks starting to migrate in during the fall months, there is nothing better than the quiet and peacefulness. When we think of our home, what is that first image that comes to mind? Is it our little kiddos coming in wanting a pancake breakfast on a Saturday morning? Maybe it’s a weekly game night with friends… or puppy snuggles, and Netflix shows we sit and watch all Sunday afternoon. Whatever that image is, there isn’t anything any one of us would do to save it forever. So, here’s the difficult question… who do we turn to should disaster strike and that image is suddenly filled with flood waters, fire and ash, or inches of standing water?

Who do we turn to in a time of need is not exactly a question many of us want to ponder. I became a new homeowner myself just over a year ago and I can tell we honestly, the thought of having a disaster recovery team in my phone book had never once crossed my mind. What matters most when making that kind of choice? What are the most important values a company should genuinely stand by to win my business? In that moment, when my worst nightmare is actively crushing our world, there are very few people that we would trust enough to help put it all back together. The thing about this type of situation, this nightmare, is that we never hope we need these people. We never wanted to know you in this context. We had hoped that our paths would not have crossed in this way, but here we are, and we are looking at you to be our hero! That is a tall stack of expectations, and when we start piecing together all of those tiny memories and images in our mind of what we imagine things to be like again, one day soon, very few can measure up to what we expect.

When we need a hero, we automatically have a standard in our mind of who these people are, and the values they believe in, i.e. integrity, honesty, and a servant’s heart, just to name a few. They should look us in the eye and without a hesitation make us wholeheartedly believe that all will be well again, and that they are the ones to trust in getting us through this. We know a sincere heart when we meet one, and that is who we want to help us through the damage that occurred. We hope you hold yourself to as high a standard as we do. So, if you are willing to step up to that challenge with an open heart, the instilled integrity to do the right thing, and the compassion to restore my life to new, then the only thing left to say to you is, thank you in advance! Through the sleepless nights, the frustrations and dismay of losing possessions and having to start anew, we trust you to put the pieces back together. Thank you in advance for answering our phone calls and reassuring us that you have everything under control. Thank you in advance for becoming our hero in a time we most need you, but never wanted you, thank you, thank you, thank you.