"To Storm the Secret Place"

On Saturday evening this past weekend, we received a phone call from our son who lives in the surrounding area of Raleigh, North Carolina. He was a bit shaken but okay. A tornado had just touched down on the street where he lived. Earlier in the evening, he could tell a storm was approaching and decided to go out and take some pictures of the lightning. He did not have his radio or television on and thought it was just a typical North Carolina spring thunder storm. His wife had just returned from Walmart with a car full of groceries and our young grandson was sleeping peacefully in his crib.

As Josh was standing outside on his porch, camera in hand... the weather became crazy. The wind increased significantly and the rain was unlike any other rain storm he had witnessed. He said the rain began coming at him sideways stinging and burning his face. And then it began to pelt balls of hail. The sound of a huge clap of thunder almost knocked him off his feet. As the wind increased in intensity, he realized this was not just a thunderstorm. He said the sound of the wind was eery, a shrill noise that brought with it a power he had not witnessed before. As he grabbed his wife and crying baby who had been awakened by the thunder, they huddled together in the house and waited for the unknown.

I have been there before... waiting for the unknown. Huddling together with my children and so scared I kept praying the same thing over and over again. "God please help us, God please save us... God please protect us... God please don't let us die."

In a matter of moments it was over. As they emerged from their home and ventured outside, they were shocked to see the devastation. A house down the street was completely covered in trees along with their cars sitting in the driveway. Another home was completely split down the middle by a fallen tree. Siding was ripped off of houses and there were trees and branches scattered everywhere. But their house was untouched. Though they had a tall pine tree in the front yard had it fallen would have gone through their bedroom... it still stood. Their cars were still parked in the driveway. And for the first time in three years of living in their home, they met all of their neighbors. It is amazing how disastrous things or happenings can draw people together.

We are so thankful that our children are safe. As you look at how tornadoes work... there is very little you can do to protect yourself. They approach so fast, it is impossible to outrun them. With hurricanes, you have substantial warning and you know the direction they are heading in, but tornadoes approach and can change direction with no rhyme or reason to the path they take. News reported 60 twisters touched down in North Carolina this weekend.

Often, as we are faced with natural disasters or emergency's of the unknown we are brought to the realization that we are helpless. Even more so, we are driven to our knees in prayer because we know there isn't a single person living in this world that can help us at that moment. A poem I read this morning... sheds a little light on where we go when we need God the most.

"I thank You for the bitter things

They've been a friend to grace,

They've driven me from the paths

of ease...

To storm the secret place."

Florence White Willett