We had just finished up selecting a child's name from the angel tree and were gathering up the boys to head out of church. As we were gathering the power went out- we started for the door. Just as we got to the exit we heard people telling everyone to get into the worship center or another safe place. I wasn't sure why. Paul and I looked at each other, both thinking we should just keep walking and get to the van. A little bad weather wasn't going to scare us off and we wanted to get to lunch, not be stuck at church. As we looked at each other and had a silent conversation between us we heard that there was a tornado warning. We still wanted to head home. But then we saw that the church greeters and security and parking team members were ushering everyone that was outside, back into the building. Even if we tried, I'm not sure we would have been allowed to leave. For this we are praising God. We estimate that we would have been directly in the path of the tornado had we got in our van and drove away. Instead we complied and took the boys into the dark worship center. I have no concept of time after this. But shortly after we sat down you could hear the wind. Then our ears popped and people started saying to get down. As we pushed our kids onto the floor under the seats and put ourselves over them we could here debris pounding on the building and what sounded like a train go through. It was so fast. It was so scary and despite my best efforts I started crying. All during this time our church was amazing. I can't recall all the timing but during the worst of the storm there was prayer by our pastor, corporate prayer by those of us huddled together. We were praying, our children were praying. There was worship. I wish my pictures would have turned out. Hundreds of us gathered together lifting our hands as we sang to our King, our protector. After the worst seemed to have passed Paul went out to survey. When he came in and told me our van's windows had been blown in, I sat down and started crying again. I don't know why. It's a van, no big deal. But I think that was when we realized how close we were. That tornado went right through our parking lot. Cars had been pushed into each other. Metal from a nearby storage place was piercing cars, windows blown in, trees down, fences mangled. Those in our church who saw the most say the tornado came right to the edge of our sidewalk, blowing the doors to the church open and blowing debris in, but harming no one. Our God was with us. He was protecting us. Had that tornado scooted over and hit our building, there's no telling what would have happened but almost certain injury and probably death. I think this is what has me so shaken, even today. We are so grateful for God's protection yesterday. And we are so thankful for our church staff, volunteers and body. They handled the situation beautifully, without panic, with complete faith and trust in God. They reached out to highway passerbys who had minor injuries, they reached into their closets and pulled out what food they had for people who had no way home. Those whose cars were not damaged gave rides. We were one body, for Christ working together, sacrificially to meet the needs of those around us. I'm excited to see how we as a church can work together to help those more severely affected by yesterday's tornadoes.
I'm grateful this all there is to our story. Our family is all safe, our kids are
unharmed, and our house lost power, one shingle, our flag and a wreath. As I told our boys sitting in the dark yesterday, it is merely an inconvenience that our van was damaged. It's just a van. It can be fixed or replaced. So much of what people lost yesterday cannot be. So while I still feel shook up and I still keep tearing up, I am thankful for our situation and so prayerful for our neighboring towns.
