September 20, 2002--a day thats been hard to forget.
We bought a new house May 10th, 2002. It was a bank repo and in need of much repair. We spent the whole summer tearing off, tearing down and building back up. By September 10th or so, we were becoming settled having replaced the roof, hung drywall where there was panelling, gutted the bathroom and remodled it from bare walls. We also repainted every wall in the house and recovered every floor.
September 20th rolled around, and I was busy hanging my black and white NYC photos in my 0room of white wall, white carpet and white furnishings. A tornado watch was issued around 11:00am, and at 12:45pm a tornado warning. The sirens went off. My mom is calling. We're trying to locate my younger brother. I'm kind of scrambling around unsure of what to do. On. TV, local weather anchors have interupted regular programming. One keeps saying, "We are really concerned about this cell heading directly for Martinsville." But, its unclear if there is a spotted tornado. Then, at 12:57pm, the weather guy says, "We have confirmed reports of a tornado on the ground and it will be arriving in Martinsville in 2 minutes 45 seconds." I gaze out the window, and am struck by what I see--literally nothing. It was calm, the sky was bright. I saw nothing. Still they said 2 minutes 45 seconds, so I scramble around--unplug the computer, grab Daisy, look for the cat (I can't find her), step into the garage to tell Dave (who was finishing some repairs outside) that they are saying a tornado is on the ground and does he want to come to the basement? He says he'll stay in the garage. I say, "I'll be in the basement. Feel free to come down if it gets bad." I know surreal. I go to the basement and kneel down against the interior wall. About 15 seconds later, I hear the worst roaring. My ears begin to pop. The pressure squeezes my head. Windows are shaking. I hear pounding against the house. I feel terrified. Dave comes running down the basement stairs. He tells me there is considerable damage and he almost waited too late to come down. A few minutes later, we decided to survey the damage.
Sure enough, there was major damage to our home, every home on our street, throughout our town. Following that were hours of rain, complications with Dan getting home from work. Trying to board up and tarp over the damage. Terrible day.
We had a F3 tornado that stayed on the ground for 112 miles. No one was killed although several people were injured.
Insurance came through. We repaired our house. The emotional scar took a little while longer to heal. Tornado season was tough for the next year or two. I couldn't sleep during even the smallest storm. I checked the weather constantly. I got weather alerts texted to my cell phone. Really, the only thing in the natural that made me feel less anxious was being prepared. Knowing ahead of time to expect severe weather. Being alerted. Checking the radar before leaving home. Preparedness. Helps. I do find myself less anxious as I learn to be led by the Holy Spirit. He's helping me overcome a spirit of fear. A prophet recently told me God has posted a gaurd of angels around me--protecting me. Maybe everyone has a gaurd of anges around them. I don't know, but I do feel an ease of fear since she said that. Confidence in God. Helps.
I am reminded of how far I've come since that fateful September day. Last night we had a tornado warning in Indy. We came down to our basement, and tuned into the weather coverage. We were in our bedroom, which is in the basement, but has one window (our basement is half in the ground). It got a little scary sounding, so we went into our closet and waited. This morning, we can see major damage to a high rise building about 3 blocks from our condo. They will know today if it is from tornado or straight line wind damage.
Damage very near our home. We went to the closet. I remained calm. I slept soundly last night. Peace that passes understanding.
Wow, isn't it nice to have a measurable indicator of how you have grown in God?
We have lived in our house about 3 and 1/2 years, and yesterday was the worst wind I have seen there. The weather report called it a "rotation". We noticed the wind and walked out in the backyard to take a look at things. We live at the edge of a subdivision, right next to a high school, and we saw huge pieces of the high school roof blowing around. The roof blew off of a utility shed a couple houses down. I walked back inside and went to the front door in time to see shingles blown off the roof of my across-the-street neighbors' house. We immediately started quoting verses from Ps. 91. After it passed, I went out to look. Our house was fine (cars were in the garage) God is good! The Word is so powerful, especially when spoken.
I have only been in one real tornado, and I was in kindergarten, so I don't remember it all that well. I can only imagine the fear that could grip someone having experienced what you did. Praise God that He brings us out of it!
wow, what a story. proud of you for overcoming a spirit of fear. i love psalm 91:11 "the Lord has given His angels charge concerning me to guard me in all my ways."
Wow, Mark. So glad that there was no damage to your house. Those were definitley some strong storms. You were quoting Ps. 91 and so is Bek about angels gaurding us.
Thanks, Bek, for that Scripture. I wasn't sure about the gaurd of angels, but that is clearly a confirming verse!
Ps 27:4 One thing I have desired from the LORD, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to pray in His temple.(MKJV)
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Wow, isn't it nice to have a measurable indicator of how you have grown in God?
We have lived in our house about 3 and 1/2 years, and yesterday was the worst wind I have seen there. The weather report called it a "rotation". We noticed the wind and walked out in the backyard to take a look at things. We live at the edge of a subdivision, right next to a high school, and we saw huge pieces of the high school roof blowing around. The roof blew off of a utility shed a couple houses down. I walked back inside and went to the front door in time to see shingles blown off the roof of my across-the-street neighbors' house. We immediately started quoting verses from Ps. 91. After it passed, I went out to look. Our house was fine (cars were in the garage) God is good! The Word is so powerful, especially when spoken.
I have only been in one real tornado, and I was in kindergarten, so I don't remember it all that well. I can only imagine the fear that could grip someone having experienced what you did. Praise God that He brings us out of it!