Aftermath

As long as I can remember we have always been extraordinarily tense at the first mention of any severe weather that approaches our area. My family survived the tornado outbreak in 1974 when I was only a few months old. I can vividly recall many nights heading to the basement at church riding out a line of storms in the middle of the night.

Watching as the local weather reporters spoke of the impending events this week, my wheels began to turn as to our plan of action. Having been approved by our lead pastor and with key in hand our little band of four people, six goldfish, and one clinically insane dog headed to the basement at our church across town.

You should have seen it: we looked prepared to survive the zombie apocalypse. Air mattresses, a suitcase full of non perishable food and water, and our weather radio were first to set up. I located a television and DVD player so the kids could get their minds off the storm by watching cartoons we brought. Once my laptop was set up and connected to our local news station live feed, we were prepared to spend the night and ride out the storms.

The only two issues that first night were the dog wondering how much trouble he would get into for eating the goldfish, and my six year old finishing off the Chex mix and deciding if the dog treats did in fact taste like real bacon.

Around 7 am we returned home for a few hours. At 2:30pm it was reported the ‘worst’ of the storms was about to enter Alabama, so we loaded up minus the sleeping gear and food items and headed back to the church.

As soon as we entered the door, the sirens went off.

For the next couple of hours I stared in disbelief at the news feed online as reports of entire communities being wiped out one after another came in. The DVDs we brought for our kids no longer held interest as they came to see what was happening. While the power never went out at the church, the internet finally did. Once it seemed all clear we returned home passing down trees and debris along our route.

All I could think about were the number of large trees around our house. I tried to prepare myself for the worst, but as we pulled back into our driveway our only problem was the power being out. Even that was rectified around an hour or two later with a quick trip to the fuse box when I realized my neighbors had their lights on.

My hometown was not so fortunate. With power being out for an unknown period of time we welcomed our family to stay with us until the situation was resolved. A second hand report came in that the house we lived in just a year ago was flattened by a tornado, along with the gas station down the street.

This scene was replicated across the state. From Tuscaloosa to Athens and beyond homes destroyed, lives lost, and broken people left shell shocked to start the process of picking up the pieces to start over.

I have no words of great wisdom, no great spiritual epiphanies. I ask ‘why’ along side many of you. The only constant I can cling to is this:

God is good. He is still enthroned, in control, sovereign and desperate to save.

At one point during the night my daughter asked tearfully about our possessions at our house. We explained we brought the most important things with us and pointed to each other. God reminds us that while our world may be crumbling around us, His heart is for His children and those He longs to welcome into His ever extending family

Moments like these cause us to reflect on what is ultimately important.  Is there a family member you need to reconcile with? Do you cling needlessly to possessions or status? Most of all, are you sure of where you will spend eternity?

Do not wait until the sirens go off. Make the most of today because as we have seen, tomorrow is not promised.

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