04/25/11

****These images are not mine****

I didn't post much last week other than celebrating our projects done and our risen Lord.

I had much to chew on from the previous Saturday when all of the storms hit with tornadoes. I have even dreamed about the tornadoes coming again. It was all very surreal.

We had heard all week that the storms on Saturday were going to be bad. I have had to learn over the years to not get stressed over them because they usually do not come down "my street" and I worry for nothing. I always want to be cautious and be careful, but not to panic.

However, Saturday changed all of that!

It is a sobering feeling when you hear the newscast say a tornado is coming and then the meteorologist mentions your street in the path! I still didn't panic, but I began to put everything I could in the bathroom... including all of the stuff I could find from their NC projects.

We went into the bathroom when Steve looked out the window and saw debris flying in a circular motion. The electricity immediately went out when we closed the door to the bathroom. I did have a calmness through it all that the Lord was with us.

When we emerged just a few minutes later, we thought everything was good for the most part. That is, until we realized that just a 1/4 mile up the road the tornado went through and did a lot of damage.

We have gone around to see the damage that was done in a matter of seconds. Homes were torn apart, trees were twisted and broken as well as fully uprooted. There were lives lost as well, but thankfully, no lives were lost around our immediate area.

We have seen a lot of trees just like this near our home.

The force of the tornadoes just cause you to go speechless.

This is a common site around our home, too. This was in downtown Raleigh at the old cemetary.

It is amazing how these old and well-established trees were just yanked from their spots.

I will admit... I have had a hard time realizing the damage that was so close to us and all we had was a few shingles off our roof. Don't get me wrong, I am SO thankful that the Lord protected us.

Tornadoes like this usually hit out in the middle part of the country. We see it on the news and hate it for the people, but we go on with our lives because we don't experience that type of thing very often. I guess that is why this has overwhelmed me so much with the devastation I have viewed... it was SO close.

I am still wrapping my mind around it all, but I am learning that isn't what I am to do. I was reminded of this passage of Scripture in I Kings after reading one of my former students' blog:

The prophet Elijah was in self-pity mode. He was overwhelmed with all that was going on around him. He had just had a great victory on Mount Carmel where he showed God was the one true God to the prophets of Baal. Now he was running for his life from wicked Queen Jezebel. He was in a cave hiding out because he knew she wanted to kill him. God asked him why he was in the cave. He forgot to remember what God had just done for him until this:

[God said], Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. I Kings 19:11-12

I have to listen to that still small voice and remember that God is in control no matter what the circumstances. Please continue to pray for those who have a long road of recovery and re-building. Thankfully, God is there.

This was a photograph taken by someone right after the storms went through Wendell, NC last weekend.