The Calm After the Storm

Last night, we went to bed amidst a tornado watch. (For those of you who did not grow up in our neck of the woods, a tornado watch means....the conditions are right for tornados, but we haven't seen any yet.) I mentioned to Gary as we went to bed that I hated going to bed knowing that there could end up being a tornado in the night, and we might be none the wiser until it hit.

At around 1:30 am, Gary jumped out of bed, and screamed for me to get up. There was a very strange noise, and lights flashing outside our bedroom window. This was no thunder and lightning. I raced to Zach's room and scooped him up and we huddled in the hall until we could determine what the circumstances were. After turning on the TV, we found out we were under a tornado warning...that means, there is a tornado in your area--take cover! We kept hearing the strange sound and seeing the strange lights, but still were not sure the smartest thing to do was to walk up to a window to check things out. Finally, after about ten or fifteen minutes, we decided we needed to at least briefly investigate this strange noise and light.

Across the street, lightning had struck a power line and it was flashing and making noises and sparking all over the place. It looked as if it might catch the house underneath it on fire. I called 911, and they said they were sending someone over to check it out. The storm began to die down, but this electric line was far from dying down, it continued to blaze with yellow, red and white light so bright it lit up the neighborhood. Eventually the line fell to the ground in the alley, where it would blaze when it would blow in the wind and make contact with the dumpster. The light and sound were unbelievable. It was like watching the world's largest welder in action. We just huddled in front of the window with amazement and a little bit of fear. The police continued to drive up and down our street. We were getting angry because it seemed obvious that the power needed to be cut off, even if that meant our whole neighborhood without power. It almost seemed as if no one knew what to do. Two hours later, the power was finally shut off, and it died down. I was furious that it took them so long, and so thankful that no homes were damaged.

It was difficult to go back to bed after all the excitment, but we all needed to, so the three of us huddled together in our bed to get what Zzz's we could before the morning. When we got up, everything was practically like it was the day before.

It was the calm after the storm. There was an unbelievable peace. We reminded Zach that God had taken such good care of us during the ordeal. God always takes care of us, and we are so thankful to Him. What a blessing it is to have the calm after the storm: a time to reflect and be thankful.