These are times that are trying many souls

Over the course of the past year or so, we have witnessed catastrophic earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, New Zealand and Japan.  We have seen a tsunami suddenly kill thousands of people and cause turmoil and anxiety even unto this present hour due to the problems at a nuclear power plant in Japan.  We have seen volcanoes erupt in Iceland and ice storms in places that rarely see them.  Through it all, the United States of America was basically unscathed.

Over the past few weeks, the forces of nature have unleashed their fury upon the very heart of America.  Through wildfires burning in Texas, flooding along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and the current incredible outbreak of tornadoes; there is no longer any feeling of invincibility in this land.  As if the current situation were not bad enough, a very active hurricane season looms just ahead.

In due time, all the damage being done by all these natural disasters will act as a financial stimulus as people will find jobs rebuilding houses, businesses, churches and other facilities.  But, in the short term, the current situation is too much for many to bear.  Losing one’s home or business is a traumatic experience that leaves deep scars in someone’s hearts for years to come.  Obviously there are many hurting people around right now.

The frustration people go through dealing with insurance companies, government agencies, financial institutions and employers is hard to understand unless a person has lived through a major disaster or worked with those who have.  People can talk about “trusting God” all they want, but when your home is a pile of debris, your place of employment is demolished and your creditors want payments NOW; the pressure many times literally breaks people and demolishes families.

In 2006 I took a very long and difficult trip to Cameron, a little town on the coast of southwestern Louisiana, which had been utterly destroyed by hurricane Rita the previous year.  The area was a ghost town as it had been literally forgotten due to most of the emphasis being placed on Katrina damage.  As I trudged through the sand looking at the destruction I came upon a few very haggard people hanging around a white tent.

When I inquired as to what was going on, I was told of how there used to be a church ministry that brought food to that tent twice a week but had run out of resources and had to stop.  My heart ached for these poor people who received no aid from FEMA, the Red Cross, Salvation Army or any other group except one lonely ministry who could no longer find the resources to get food to them.

I was not able to do much but the pictures I took of the people and their plight did make their way to some agencies which in due time were able to get some resources down there.  The town had literally fallen through the cracks due to all the other needs.

As people attempt to put their lives back together in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia; I pray that those of us unaffected by the current onslaught of floods and tornadoes remember those whose lives have been turned upside down.

These are very troubled and turbulent times and many of our brothers and sisters are hurting right now.  If ever they needed a friend to lend them a hand or a shoulder to cry on it is NOW.  If there was ever a time to redouble our prayers and “stand in the gap” it is NOW.  If there was ever a time to intercede on behalf of those who are struggling to stay sane and alive, it is NOW.  Truly this is a time to pray for and reach out to all those engaged in the worst battles of their lives.

“Be Prepared” is NOT Just a Boy Scout Motto; My Personal Tornado Experience

It was a very warm and muggy day, especially since it was late November of 1990.  I was working at a pet supply store.   I was a grossly over qualified store clerk who was working for minimum wage because I was fed up with having to lie to people in the various sales jobs I had worked at the preceding few years.

I went in the store at 1:00 pm to start my 8 hour shift on the floor selling dog food and supplies.  It wasn’t until close to 3:00 that my first customer came in.  The owner and manager and I were all talking to this gentleman about premium dog food.  A tornado watch had been issued earlier and we could hear thunder as we were talking.    

About 3:20 it started storming and at 3:25 the lights went out.  The owner, manager, customer and I all congregated about 6 feet from the front glass window and door to get some light even though it was very dark outside.  I was leaning on a stack of dog food bags talking about the weather when suddenly my ears popped like I was going up or down a hill.

What happened next seemed to take only an instant, but in reality took perhaps 10 seconds.  Suddenly and without any warning whatsoever the front window exploded sending glass everywhere.  Instinctively I dove into the stack of bags for cover.  Then a whoosh of wind tried to suck us all out of the now open area, the roof started caving in and we all screamed.  Then there was silence.  We had just had a tornado hit our building.

As quickly as it came it was over.  I was on the floor with two bags of dog food on top of me.  The others were on the floor with debris covering them.  The customer was bleeding as was the manager from flying glass.  As we staggered to our feet, we looked at each other and tried to figure out what we had just lived through.  Then we looked outside.

About 50 feet from the front door, across the parking lot were our three cars plus the customer’s car.  There was not one window left in any of the four vehicles.  The scene looked as though a huge bomb had exploded in front of the building.  There was glass everywhere along with insulation, plywood, two by fours, siding and more glass.  A huge chunk of rafters had landed on top of my car.  It looked like it had been driven through a war zone along with the other cars. 

I was in a daze.  What are you supposed to do?  There were no cell phones back then.  No land phones worked, there was no electricity.  The temperature was dropping like a rock.  We were all cold, wet, injured and scared.  Finally after about ten minutes the sirens started.  Not only the police and fire trucks, but the tornado sirens sounding their warning just a little late.   Soon we were led to a church about a block away to have injuries looked at and get inside out of the rain and cold wind. 

Sometime around 5:30 a regular customer got through and volunteered to take me home.  There I waited as my poor wife as she tried to find me after hearing about the tornado while at work.  We only had one car, so one of her managers was now driving her around looking for me and finally brought her home.  It was around 7:30 when we both were safely home; alive, but with no car and only one of us now employed.

Why did I tell you this story?  To illustrate a very important point.  That tornado hit with absolutely NO warning other that a “watch”.  There were no sirens to warn us to take shelter.  The only hint we had of what was coming was the electricity went out (due to downed power lines).  The whole thing took place so suddenly and dramatically there was no time to do anything but dive into dog food bags while being sprayed with broken glass.

Those things in life that come with no warning are the most difficult to deal with.  Many natural disasters happen with little advance warning whatsoever.  Once in the middle of the situation it is too late to prepare.  The lesson I learned from that even many years ago was to be much more acutely aware to what is going on with the weather, especially if watches or warnings are issued.

In 1987 I slept through a small tornado that touched down less than a quarter of mile from where I was sleeping.  It really shook me up to awaken on a Sunday morning to destruction so close, and yet I never heard a thing.  But then, just three years later, the same thing happened again.  Let me assure you, it has never happened since, and never will.  Once you live through two tornadoes you make some decisions in your life to be better prepared and much more aware of what is going on.

Now there are provisions safely stored in the basement if we must race down there.  Now there are provisions in the two vehicles in case of a storm or breakdown or road blockage.  Now there are plans made for communication in the event of an emergency and where to go and what to do if various scenarios were to happen.  There is nothing that relegates the strongest person to the state of weakness faster than being unprepared for a disaster.  There is nothing that breeds more confidence than knowing one has done all that is available to do to prepare for a disaster ahead of time.

An ounce of prevention is truly worth its weight in gold.  Please, I urge you to plan now for whatever types of disasters your area is prone to.  Don’t wait until the glass shatters and you are diving into the nearest stack of dog food bags to figure out how to deal with what nature sends your way.  As the Boy Scouts motto says; “Be Prepared”.