I’m sorry the first part was so long.  I will try to make this one shorter.

That night after listening to the car radio Chris decided to drive to a neighboring town to get gas because they were across the state line and had power.  He returned home around midnight and let me know about a certain subdivision that had been hit hard for the second time in 16 years.  My heart sank.  Just how bad is the damage?  We had no clue.

The next morning, Chris had to go into work for a brief meeting.   I was trying to figure out what to do.  We had no power, so I couldn’t get online to find out anything, I couldn’t do laundry, we couldn’t watch TV and breakfast was a bowl of cereal and yes that meant, NO COFFEE!!  We had originally planned to visit Chris’ Dad and Step Mom this weekend, were we going to be able to do that?  Chris’ job kept telling everyone in his Dept to “stay close”.  I guess that’s what happens when your in the IT dept for a company.   They wanted everyone that could close in case the systems crashed (which of course were being ran by generators).  I really needed my hair washed, sorry, I know, Gross!  But I really did and was afraid to tackle it by myself.  See my injury was on the back of my head, I couldn’t see it!  So anyways, I was having a hard time not being discouraged.

About an hour later Chris came home with my sister and her husband following close behind.  They came to help clear the tree and she brought a camp stove, eggs and a french press which meant, COFFEE!!!!  Hallelujah!!!   I cried when I saw her, she was a sight for sore eyes.  Her being here also meant someone could wash my hair, things were looking up!!

As the day progressed we gradually got reports of the power outage lasting anywhere from 5-7 days!  We finally got to the point of having cell service and were able to receive calls and make a few calls.  We made our plans and headed to Tennessee to visit Chris’ Dad where we could rest and heal.

As we drove out of town listening to the radio and hearing all the reports of damage, my heart broke for all the loss, pain and destruction.  So many people lost homes, portions of their homes, businesses, loved ones.  It was incredible, the path one particular EF5 tornado took, it started in Hackleburg, AL and traveled 106.9 miles to Franklin, TN, covering four counties in AL and one county in TN.  It was 1.25 mile wide and had winds of 210 mph!   Wow.  I was blown away when I heard that info.  Blown away.  I silently prayed for all those hurting people coming through the rubble of what used to be their home, or those who had lost loved ones.  I prayed for friends I hadn’t heard from yet, wondering and hoping they were ok.  I prayed for my family who was traveling to NC to stay with relatives till the power came on.  I prayed that our house would be safe, that it wouldn’t smell too bad when we got home.  And how my heart wanted to stay home helping all these hurting people.

Once we got to TN Thursday night, we were so thankful for a dry home to stay in, warm showers, electricity, warm food.  We could see pictures of the damage and destruction so close to our home and the area we live.  The desire to be home and help grew stronger and stronger.  But I would need to be patient, my head had to heal, Chris had flown to Virginia for Military duty and had asked us to wait till we had power to go home.  So Riley and I stayed at Grandpa and Meme Macks for almost a week.  We had a good time, we visited Cades Cove and the Titanic, both of those I counted as school days!  The other days we did school and hung out with Grandpa and Meme Mack.   When we got power late Tuesday afternoon, Grandpa said he could drive us home the next day.

It was so good to be home, to check on friends, neighbors.  It was good to see a dear friend and hug her neck as she told us of all the trees they lost.  She was so thankful none of them had fallen on the house they are building!  We stopped by Mom’s and checked on her, then went to the grocery store to stock up on a few things.  It was good to be home.

God is good, and sometimes our plans are not His plans.  Although my heart was here in  Alabama it was good to have a time to heal in Tennessee with loving Grandparents.   There were so  many stories of people helping each other, being the hands and feet of Jesus.  Our church jumped out there and got right in the middle of the hardest hit areas and helped many people with removing debris, putting tarps on roofs, cutting trees, or just giving a bottle of cold water.  Many other churches and individuals jumped in and joined the forces of helping clean up after the storms.  What a blessing to see so many people coming together to help those in need.

I have to be honest with you, I don’t exactly know where to start, I have so much I want to tell you.  I know, the beginning is always the best place so I guess I will start there.

I think I know the answer to this question, but have you ever  experienced something and then looked back on it and saw where God had his fingers on it?  I’m sure some of you have.  Here in North Alabama we have had a time such as that.  On April 27th, a record 28 tornadoes touched down throughout the Northern portion of our state causing chaos and havoc, terror and destruction.  Check out these two maps that show the paths of the tornadoes.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

This really cool map from the Portland Oregon Weather Blog

In all my years of living in Kansas (13 yrs) and now Alabama (21 yrs), I have never experienced a tornado till now.  Riley and I got up that morning to a tornado warning and storms but it was North of us so there was no need for us to worry.  We ate breakfast and got school going as quickly as we could.  We had gymnastics at noon and it always goes better if we can get Bible, Math and Language done before then and save the lighter subjects for afterwards if we have to.   Around 11:15 or so, I had the TV on so I could watch the weather as we were finishing up and getting ready to eat.  I love that our weather meteorologists have the ability to let you know where it will hit and approximately at what time.  That is so helpful!   As I was watching I knew we had a little bit of time to eat lunch before a storm/tornado hit.   Just as Riley finished eating his lunch the meteorologist said a strong storm with 90 mph winds was getting ready to hit our area.  I sent Riley to my closet immediately as I was watching out the front door.   I didn’t have to stand there long before I heard thunder and saw lightening.  Next thing I knew the trees out front where bending over, It was here.  I flew to my closet and shut the door.  Lady and Riley were huddled under the blanket on the floor.  I heard what sounded like a freight train going over our house, it was constant, never a break in the sound until it ended about 5 to 7 minutes later.  The TV blinked off and on a couple of times in the midst of the noise, telling me the power had gone off.   I kept thinking to myself, this is not just a storm but it has to be a tornado the way it sounded!  Thankfully the power came back on and all was quiet.  We crept to the front door and found we had lost most of our Bradford Pear tree out front.   I called Chris to tell him we were ok, and tell him about the tree.  As we were talking, I walked around outside noticing one side of our fence was down and a shutter was torn in half.

You might notice behind our tree, our neighbor across the street also lost a Bradford Pear tree in her front yard.

I began to feel so thankful that was all the damage that was done and it was minimal compared to what it could have been.  As I went inside the meteorologist was reporting another storm headed our way.  Again, I sent Riley to the closet as I called my mother to check on her, she lives less than five minutes away.  She was in her car in the carline picking up my niece at school.  As we talked the storm hit, shaking her car quite a bit.  We both stayed on the phone praying that she would be protected.  Thankfully it passed quickly and she was able to get my niece and go home.  I also grabbed an opportunity to check on a couple of friends who both lost several trees on their property.

Chris had suggested that I see about getting the chain saw from my mom so he could tackle cutting up the tree later that evening.  So after she made it home and the weather calmed some, we jumped in the truck  and headed over to her house to pick up the chain saw.  We didn’t stick around long because another storm was on it’s way.  We pulled in our driveway just as the rain started coming down hard.  I got Riley inside and went to get the chain saw in the garage so it didn’t get wet.   Now our driveway collects water in areas and dirt has washed out of the yard and packed into these areas causing them to be slippery.  I knew that and was being cautious about how I walked and where I stepped.  Well, that didn’t seem to matter because as I got to the back of the truck, my feet flew out from under me, I landed on my bottom and my head flew back and struck the cement.  I immediately cried, “God, help me!”, all I could think of was Riley and I didn’t need to pass out or worse so please protect me.  I sat up and knew instantly I had done something to the back of my head, the pain was excruciating!  I carefully went inside and got a clean towel to put on my head.  I told Riley to call Chris as I called my neighbor to get her to assess the damage.  She took one quick look and said, “I’m taking you to the urgent care, Chris can meet us there.”  Riley told Chris where we were going and to meet us there.  As we all piled into her car the radio announcer said, “tornado headed towards Madison county, Monrovia, Harvest, Toney.”  That was us… we looked at each other and she said, “Pray!”  I prayed so hard that we would get there safely and in one piece.  Again, God protected us and after being rerouted three different times because of downed trees and power lines, we made it.  Chris actually beat us there and was wondering where we were!

My neighbor took Riley home with her and Chris and I worked on getting checked in to the urgent care.  I was so mad at myself for this happening today of all days!  But I was also so afraid I had a fracture or concussion.   Chris and I sat in the waiting room praying for peace, healing and comfort.  Praying for protection over Riley, my neighbor and her grandsons.  Praying for protection over all of our family, friends and loved ones in our area.   They finally put me in a room and Mom showed up!  I had called her as left the house and she did everything she could to get there.  She too was rerouted and had to take detours but made it.  Nothing keeps a Momma from her hurt child!  No matter how old her child is!  The Doctor came in shortly and assessed my head and called for stitches and a CT scan.

Shortly after mom got there, the power went out in the urgent care, another tornado was on its way.  They started evacuating all the rooms but mine because it was an interior room.  Again, Mom, Chris and I bowed our heads praying for protection over us, our families, Riley, my neighbor, our area.  A little later, after things calmed down, the doctor came in and suggested that we go ahead and do the stitches and maybe come back tomorrow for the CT scan?  That sounded good to us, we were getting hungry and wanted to go home.  So finally after 8 stitches by flashlight and approximately 4 hours of waiting we headed out into another storm.

Yes, you read correctly, as we left the hospital with Mom following us in her car, the radio announced another tornado in the area, that seemed to be right above us.   We pulled over and looked around, waiting and praying.  We tried and tried to get a hold of someone by phone, various family members, neighbors, friends and we couldn’t, cell phone service was minimal at best.

I knew I needed to alleviate the pain in my head that was now revealing itself as the lydocaine was wearing off.  We needed a pharmacy.  As soon as we felt it was ok, we drove down the road and found a Publix that appeared to have no power but was open.  Chris ran inside while Mom and I waited in our cars.  Again I sought the Lord and His mercy that Chris would be able to get the prescription filled without difficulty, that Mom and I would be protected in our cars.  We were also in need of food but were quickly realizing that we would need to go home and eat whatever was there.  No one had power!

After my prescription was filled, we drove home surveying the damage along the road.  Trees were down everywhere, in yards and on houses.  Water ran across the road, sometimes in large quantities.  The sky was yellow and dark, there were no street lights or lights on at houses.  As we pulled up to our dark house, we went inside and I started making sandwiches (by candle light) while Chris ran across the street to get Riley.  A few minutes later Riley came in and buried his face in my shirt and gave me a big hug.  “Are you ok, Mom?”  I told him I was and about my stitches.  He smiled with big relief and I asked him about his experience.  He and his buddies hid under the staircase, playing Legos and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  “Were you scared?”  I asked him.  “Yes, we were a little bit, especially when the power went out.  But Mrs. Barbara (our neighbor) was really brave!”  I am so thankful for loving, brave neighbors!!  The three of us sat down on the couch, in the dark and talked about all we were thankful for.  Life, God’s protection, our home, food, each other and much more.

This is My account of Our experience on April 27, 2011.    What we experienced was minor in comparison to so many others.  On this day many lives were changed in so many ways.  People lost their homes, loved ones or sustained major damage.  Many incredible stories have risen from that day.   There is much more to share with you, I will post more later.  Till next time.