“God can turn a mess into a bless.”

When Jeff Lynn’s wife told him that a week after Hurricane Michael had destroyed the building of his business, Delta Tire Pros, he was preoccupied with how and if he could ever recover.

According to his insurance adjuster, the structure might have been a total loss. A major wall had been damaged, opening a hole that sent hurricane force winds throughout the building. If certain beams and supports were compromised, it would have been over.

Meanwhile, Lynn’s phone was blowing up with calls. People were running over nails and debris, including power workers, The Salvation Army and Red Cross. That weekend, Lynn’s shop went mobile, working completely on the road before settling in temporarily at Sirmons Alignment, where Lynn’s brother worked.

“Up until then, we were running everything off of our service trucks,” said Lynn. “We had an old truck where the bed was gone on it. We put a piece of plywood on it, we were writing hand tickets on the back of that truck. We were just working it off our cell phones.”

A week after that, Lynn finally got word on his own building. It wasn’t a total loss, but all four walls of the warehouse would need rebuilding. As it stood at that time, the building would pre-sent a major safety hazard for people inside. The temporary setup at Sirmons suddenly looked like it would be more long-term.

Lynn put signs on the doors and announced on social media where his business would be migrating to. To his surprise, Lynn’s customers moved right along with Delta Tire Pros.

“Our customers amazed us at how loyal they were to continue to do business with us, even when it wasn’t the most convenient,” said Lynn.

On Monday, after nine months, Delta Tire Pros moved its operations back to the original building. The warehouse looks brand new. Workers even commented they felt like they were on the first day of a new job. Not only that, but Sirmons was moving in, too.

Lynn had woken up at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning, barely able to sleep from excitement.

“I was kind of emotional, just getting back and trying to come up with some sort of routine that we were used to,” said Lynn. “I’m overwhelmed, in a positive way.”

Overwhelmed by the support of his employees, joining together with Sirmons and especially by the community that remained loyal, even when Delta Tire Pros was working out of the back of its pickup trucks.

“A lot of people really sometimes can talk negatively about a small community, but it’s times like these where I love living in a small community,” said Lynn.

As it turns out, that mess really did turn into a bless.