A Day of Wonder

Today I am in awe of the power of the weather. Last night our area was hit by several severe storms. This morning's newscast was full of reports and pictures of areas hit so hard by this weather. But in our area, we were lucky. We had heavy rains, many lightening strikes, and lots of thunder, but we have emerged pretty much unscathed. We have no down trees, no large branches down and our only flooding is the overflow from the pond that has taken up residence in the basement. The garden plants that were looking a little droopy and dry are this morning standing tall and revived, showing proudly the blossoms that soon will be the fruits of our labors.

I am reminded of May 31, 1985 when a tornado passed through the field behind our house. Rod had been out of work for three years, and had received an offer of a job in Newark NJ. We were at my mom's and had received a phone call from my SIL, who had a police scanner, saying that the tornado had hit on our road. Fearing the worst, my dad and Rod drove out to the house to see whether we had a home to return to. Rod and I decided before they left that if the house was gone, we would move to NJ and he would take the job. I prayed in my heart that the house was still standing. I didn't want to leave my home. When Rod came back, he reported that although the crops in the field were gone, our home was standing with no damage. The dog was still fine and the doghouse was unchanged. Even the lawn chairs were still standing in the yard where we had left them. He said it was as though the hand of God had protected our little bit of life. We thanked God for our blessings, and remained in this area until 1988 when it became necessary to move to Hampton VA. Less than 4 months after we moved, the kids and I returned home, and Rod followed a few months later. But that's another story. And so today, I thank God for all his wonderful blessings.