Something wicked this way comes

It's the middle of March and it's 70 degrees. The air is humid and eery. Weather men are predicting powerful storms tonight and the possibilty of long tracking, deadly tornadoes. As we sit outside, we can feel a type of energy in the air. It's ominous and makes me nervous. 

In 2021, an EF4 tornado hit downtown Newnan which is about 15 miles from our current house. Back then, it was less than 10 from where we lived and we stayed up all night praying as we huddled on the floor of our laundry room. That was one of the scariest nights of my life. 

After that huge tornado slammed into our city and decimated it, I told my husband we needed to be better prepared for the next weather event. I ordered some thick, sturdy bike helmets from Amazon. I bought a solar cell phone charger and gathered thick pillow and blankets. We came up with a plan. The next time tornadoes were predicted, we were going to be ready. 

I don't like living in "tornado alley," a wide swath of land that begins in Alabama and stretches across the western part of Georgia. While I've lived in this danger zone for most of my life, I'm looking forward to leaving it. In fact, on my next move, I'm planning on making sure I'm many miles away from it. 

Tornadoes have scared me since I was a child. When I first watched the Wizard of Oz, I realized how powerful they could be. Even though that was a fictional movie, at a tender young age, it scarred me for life. 

I've seen 2 tornadoes in real life. The 2
I've seen were from a safe distance and as I watched in awe, I never forgot how deadly and powerful they could be. The first one I saw was far off on the horizon as I was camping with my Girl Scout troop. The second one was dropping down from the sky as I had traveled to Carson Newman College to help pack up my little sister as she prepared to move. That one didn't touch ground but it was mesmerizing to watch it slowly form and dip down from the sky.

My mother in law told me about living through the 1936 tornado that basically obliterated downtown Gainesville. That storm left more than 200 dead, 1600 injured, and 2,000 homeless. It caused millions of dollars worth of damage. When I moved to Gainesville back in the mid 1980s, I'll never forget when one passed over our house. The sky went a nasty shade of green and the air felt alive. Thankfully, that one passed us by but I was so frightened. 

I guess the thing that scares me most about tornadoes is the time of day they hit. Often they come in the dark hours of night when you can't see them coming. I do have weather alerts set on my phone but when they're predicting this kind of weather, I rarely sleep a wink for fear of the unknown. 

Today as we've been watching the sky and feeling uneasy about the approaching storms, we prayed. We asked God to protect us from danger, to protect our home, keep our power on, keep the big trees all around is soundly in place, and to protect our friends and loved ones. As I type this, I look out my office windy and hear the wind blowing hard. Large oak trees sway in the breeze and the sky is mottled shades of gray. 

I can't help but think about Jesus when He was in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. That sea isn't really a sea. It's a huge lake. I've been there. While we were in Israel, on the day we were scheduled to tour the sea on a large, covered fishing boat, the lake became so rough the trip was postponed. At first we were sad. We really wanted to get out on the lake but as our bus passed around the lake, on our way to another tourist location, we watched the strong waves rolling on the sea. I was thankful we were able to see how powerful the wind whips across the water there. It helped me visualize what it might have been like when Jesus and the disciples were on the water. As a storm raged all around, Jesus slept contently in the back of the boat while the disciples panicked. I used to wonder, as the disciples did, how He would sleep so peacefully in the midst of such chaos but as I studied, I learned He was able to sleep because He knew He had the power to still the waves. I think He was giving an object lesson to His students - a valuable lesson in faith and trust. 

So, tonight as the storms gain momentum and night begins to fall, I'm going to do my best to remember Who controls the wind. Freaking out won't help me any. Yes, I'm prepared with all the necessary physical comforts and protection I can have, but I'm also steeling my heart with the reminder that God knows exactly where I am and His hand of protection is over me. Nothing will happen to me that He doesn't allow and that gives me great peace of mind. 

Tornadoes are powerful and dangerous. They're definitely not something to take lightly, but if we have faith in Jesus, we can rest assured that He's got us right in the palm of His mighty hand and He will be with us through anything. How do I know? Because He's said in His Word that He'll never leave or forsake us. And never is a very long time.