My point is, we never respected these storms. We - or at least I - never stopped to consider that it was not at all unlikely that a tornado could easily spin off of the storm and demolish our house. It just didn't cross my mind. I had never really seen a tornado or the damage that they could do, so why should I be scared of them? Don't those only happen in Kansas, anyway?
Nope.
Last Wednesday, a series of tornadoes ripped through the South, and hit- quite literally- a little too close to home. I woke up that morning and Christopher was standing at the window. He told me (in a voice that let me know that he was serious) to immediately take Sarah Claire into the hallway, which we were able to close off sort of like a closet. We could hear the wind outside, and I was terrified. I found myself wondering how I would shield Sarah Claire if one of the trees around us fell on our house, and the thought of not being able to protect her enough terrified me. I suddenly didn't like storms anymore. Thankfully, the only trees that fell in our yard were far enough away from our house to harm us; they were in our backyard and though they will be a pain to clean up, we were so blessed to have been protected from the first of many storms that day.
After the storm passed, we walked outside and saw that a tree had fallen right onto our neighbor's house. Thankfully no one was hurt, but I can't imagine hearing the sound of a tree hitting your house. The rest of our neighborhood looked pretty bad... it turns out that quite a few houses and cars were damaged and there were more trees and power lines down than I could count. To my knowledge, no one was seriously injured, though, so we all had reason to be thankful.
We spent the rest of the night at my in-law's house, and heard 7 more tornado sirens through the evening. It was terrifying to me every time. Being a momma makes everything matter so much more. After the system finally passed, we were getting bits and pieces of the news around us. Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Trenton, Ringold...so many places were hit so hard, and so many lives and homes were lost. It broke my heart to hear stories of parents using their own bodies to protect their children and to know that so many parents who were ready to welcome their children home from college for the summer wouldn't be able to have that chance ever again. It made me truly praise God for our protection, and it put the inconveniences of being without power in perspective.
I kept thinking of the Scott Krippayne song that says,
Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered "peace, be still"
He can settle any sea
But it doesn't mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child.
Thankfully, my in-laws opened up their home to us and we were able to have power for the week that we otherwise would have been without. We were blessed in so many ways that day. Every day, really.
Driving through Trenton a couple of days after the storm gave me a new respect for storm systems in general. Here are a few of the pictures.
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| There were quite a few signs. This one stood out and prompted us to actively help. |
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| I can't imagine being inside this home. |
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| This was unreal. A couple of people lost their lives in this building. |
There is not always a bright side. Sometimes when things are bad, it seems like there is absolutely nothing positive to say. But this time, there was definite evidence of a silver lining. After these storms passed, a couple of Auburn Alumni started "rallying the troops," so-to-speak, and began finding ways to help our legendary rivals. In a matter of hours, there were trucks being sent out from cities all over the south full of supplies and people ready and willing to begin restoring Tuscaloosa. Soon, these trucks were not just coming from the south- they were coming from all over the country, and it wasn't long before their efforts were being extended to dozens of cities that had been effected by the storm. It has been unreal to watch it unfold. The founder of the group kept the public updated via facebook regarding their progress, and it has been so heartwarming to hear of people being fed, strangers opening up their homes, and people being willing to drive across the country to drop off supplies. I have been floored at the generosity and ambition of these Auburn Alums, so it only seems appropriate to end this blog post with...
Praise God for His protection and WAR EAGLE!!!
