In the Storms of life...

  On April 27 of this year, Alabama and several other southern states got hammered by one tornado after another. Being from Indiana, when I heard the weather channel mention "super cell" I went cold. For one, I don't like storms, and there are usually only 3 things I ever really have nightmares about 1) snakes 2) vampires and 3) tornadoes. I hate them. So eye to the sky, I watched and waited. We do not have television. I went to our neighbors house at their insistence to come and look at what this storm was doing in Tuscaloosa (2 hours south of here) and then Birmingham (1 hour south of here). What everyone in the country was witnessing was stomach turning. We sat there determining when to go to the city's shelter, which happens to be our church. Our weatherman then said the next large city in this storms path was Gadsden. It would reach us before Gadsden.
   We do not have a basement. So we went to the church. The hail was so bad that I thought we would have a broken windshield. We got into the church just in time. We prayed, we waited, we listened. It was over. Many were ready to leave, but our police insisted that we stay as another was on its way. After that final tornado went through our area we went home. I am so thankful that we had a home to go back to. The next day we got to see first hand the destruction of these storms. It was like nothing I have ever seen. There are places that are bald! No grass was left even. A house that we considered buying when we moved here, gone. Neighborhoods gone. Death, missing people and search and rescue dogs. Search and rescue dogs are absolutely priceless, however it is sad to see them because you know they are called in to find a missing loved one.
   Ohatchee is the hardest hit area close to us, and by close some of the destruction is as close as 1-3 miles. Glencoe, and Alexandria are also hard hit and also close. We all have gone through something, some sort of terrifying life storm that may not be as violent as a tornado, but something just as life changing. What I have seen in the people that we have talked to is a peace, a strength and a faith that is amazing. God IS good. No matter the storm. These people are walking it. A sense of community, strangers helping strangers. It is a blessing just to see it. I am amazed at it. When you go through a storm ~ it is how you handle it that is a witness to someone.

   I pray for all of these people affected by these tornadoes. I pray for all of the people who are being Jesus' hands and feet. Out of every bad thing something glorious comes. We are already seeing it. Here are some photos taken from my van window, we weren't allowed to stop.