While exiting the building after an awards ceremony, I heard a man telling everyone a huge storm was heading in the direction of Runaway Bay where we live. We hurried home listening for weather updates on the radio. It was not belong people began texting telling us really bad weather with tornado activity headed our way.
Before long the tornado sirens sounded. We had to wake two of the boys up to get them in our room. Then the winds picked up fiercely and all six of us plus the dog got in the master bedroom closet. We were crammed in there like sardines. I voiced a prayer for ourselves, our neighbors, and the people in our church and the Paradise community.
In this highly tense moment Tucker cracked a joke to lighten the mood. He commented, "I have never been more close to my family." We all got a good laugh out of that. When the winds died down I went to investigate. It poured rain. As heavy a rain as I have ever seen. Later I learned we received six inches of rain in about an hour.
We lost electricity in the middle of the chaos. Between flashes of lightening I could see large limbs scattered all over the yard. Some landed near our vehicles.When the rain subsided Taylor and I went out with flash lights to investigate. As far as we could tell none of the cars got damaged.
I slept in the living room in my recliner while Turner slept in my bed and the other boys on the floor. I used that time to pray. I did not want to whine like a spoiled American brat because we did not have a/c. I thanked God for the mild temperatures that day making it bearable in the house. I thanked God for His protection. I thanked God none of us were injured.
Many texted us through the storm checking on us or updating us on the weather. I praised God the electricity was restored at 2:30 a.m. The ceiling fans were a real blessing I did not take for granted. I did not take getting to cook breakfast for the boys for granted either. I thought of the millions of people in the world who live everyday without electricity. I saw it as a luxury and not a right. None of us slept great. We know church members who did not get their electricity turned on until 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. They endured over twenty-four hours without it.
The next morning told an amazing story. When I surveyed the damage I discovered we had five trees down. One of them got uprooted. One fell against another tree leaving it suspended dangerously close to the master bedroom. Another tree that hung over our back porch and roof of the house got snapped in half but fell in the opposite direction of the house. I could not believe it. Gravity should have pulled that tree right on the roof of Tucker's and Turner's bedroom. The uprooted tree could have landed on our trailer but fell in the opposite direction.
In the front yard a a huge limb fell near Turner's basketball goal. It did not hit or damage the goal. Later that day I saw a similar goal down the street snapped in half. Taylor and I parked our trucks not six feet apart. Another large branch landed perfectly between my back bumper and Taylor's front bumper but did not hit either truck. AMAZING.
It appeared that God swatted limbs and trees away from our house and vehicles. A friend later told me, "You can speculate how all that happened or you can know God did it." God did it. He protected us again in the violent storm. The tornado followed our road for nearly a mile causing damage to many homes and tearing the roofs off some condos near the lake.
Two men from our church came with chainsaws to cut up the trees. They boys and I worked for seven and a half hours cleaning up branches. We also got to cut up a lot of firewood for next winter. Praise the Lord. My four sons put in Herculean effort yesterday hauling limbs. They worked hard and did not complain. At the end of the day they were exhausted.
I give all praise and glory to God. He protected my family, our home, and our vehicles. I am awed by His power. I am humbled by His protection. Again I ask why were we were spared when other homes suffered damage. Two doors down a tree fell on our neighbor's house. We heard the story of a family who went into a bathroom and the tornado tore the roof off the whole house except the bathroom where they huddled. Another farmer could not find his thirty foot goose neck trailer anywhere on his property.
God protected us. God supplied peace in the storm. God sheltered us in the storm. All I can do is bow my knees, my head, and my heart and say, "Thank You Jesus. Thank You for sheltering us. Thank You for protecting our home and vehicles. Thank You for good friends who came to our aid. Thank You for no loss of lives in any of the tornado activity. Thank You for once again allowing us to survive the storm. In Jesus name, amen."
No comments:
Post a Comment